The WrapUp
by Onimiman
Summary: Taking place after "Deadpool and Onimi," this is the jumping-off point as it strives to resolve the story threads left hanging after the end of Fate of the Jedi.
1. Chapter 1

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 1

Vestara Khai, Dubloch Velk, Waut Chauck, and Derely Dith all stood in the Keshiri desert wasteland where Vestara finally slew Abeloth with the Dagger of Mortis. The four of them were now stranded here, more than fifty miles away from the Mole Miner they used to get to Kesh, because Onimi, the psychotic and deformed Yuuzhan Vong who brought them here, couldn't bother to teleport them to safety.

"Well, what the fuck do we do now?" Waut asked to no one in particular.

"Well, I guess we start walking," Derely replied simply.

Waut looked at Derely wryly. "Derely, you know how far we are from the Mole Miner? We'll die of thirst before we get there."

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas, Waut," Derely said.

"Derely, shut the fuck up," Waut said in annoyance.

"No, you shut the fuck up, Waut," Derely countered. "It's always shut the fuck up, or shut the kriff up, with you. Okay, why do you have to be so mean to me? I've never been this mean to you when we were Sith."

"Don't be such a fuckin' pussy, Derely," Waut said. "All right, it's not my fault that you were such a fucking pansy growing up in Tahv."

"Well, at least I managed to keep my figure after we left the Lost Tribe," Derely said, nodding at the considerable paunch that Waut had developed since they settled on Coruscant.

"Well, if by figure, if you're talking about how much of a skinny little prick you were, then yeah, I guess you did keep your figure better than I did," Waut spat. "But that still doesn't change the fact that I still got more poon than you did while we were here."

"Will you two idiots both just shut the fuck up?" Vestara interjected between Waut and Derely. "C'mon, Derely's idea is the only way out. Even if we don't make it, we have to try to get back to the Mole Miner. And no more arguing, you need as much water in your body for even a remote chance to make this journey."

"See, she likes my idea better," Derely said up close to Waut's face before joining Vestara and Dubloch in the direction their Mole Miner sat.

"It's still a stupid idea," Waut muttered under his breath as he joined his companions.

Five minutes later, the four of them heard a distinct whirring sound in the sky above them. They looked up and found a ChaseMaster frigate flying overhead before it slowed to a halt thirty meters ahead of them before settling to the ground. A few seconds later, an entire platoon of Sith, both human and Keshiri alike, disembarked, rushing the four teenagers with their red lightsabers ablaze.

With Vestara armed with the Force and the Dagger of Mortis, and her three male companions only armed with the former, there seemed no way they could get out of this one alive.

However, instead of rushing the four of them head-on, the squadron of Sith formed a loose circle around them once they were at least ten meters away. The squad's teenaged targets then stood back-to-back to confront this threat.

"Vestara Khai," the Sith's leader, Keshiri Lady Sashal, said in the direction of the circle facing Vestara. Sashal was the Sith Lady who had once led a platoon to capture Vestara in the bowels of the Jedi Temple during the final battle against the Jedi on Coruscant. Vestara had been forced to give out the identity of the Jedi queen, Allana Solo, to save her own neck from torturous interrogation, and to feign further loyalty to the Lost Tribe of the Sith. "What a pleasant surprise to see you return to Kesh. And I see that you brought back the three traitors to the Lost Tribe."

"Hey, we didn't betray you guys!" Dubloch exclaimed. "We just saw the stupidity of going up against the Jedi! We looked in the galaxy's history in the Galactic Alliance. We were always fucked over by the Jedi. And even when we succeeded, we were defeated anyway. So we just decided to stay out of the way."

"There is no middle ground in the conflict against the Jedi, Dubloch Velk," Sashal replied angrily. "Abandonment is equivalent to treachery in the Sith. You might as well have turned on us and sided with the Jedi, and it would make no difference to any of us."

"Like we would have made any difference against them back on Coruscant anyway," Dubloch replied. "By the way, how did that go?" It was clear he asked that sarcastically, in order to remind Sashal of the Sith's failure to conquer the Jedi.

Sashal snarled at Dubloch's insolence. "Since the deaths of Grand Lord Vol, High Lord Workan, and Lady Korelei," she said, "I have now taken over what remains of the Lost Tribe. We have rendezvoused back here to Kesh so that we may renew our numbers and be ready to battle the Jedi once again one day."

"That'll be a waste of fuckin' time, Sashal," Waut called out. "You might as well just give up like we did. The fact of the matter is, the Jedi will always triumph. And since I doubt any one of us can ever turn to the side of those foolish idealists, the best we can become are average, every-day folk."

Sashal looked to Waut. "Where has your ambition fled, Waut Chauck? Why would you relegate yourself into the position of those who cannot feel the Force?"

"Because it's brought nothing but pointless death and violence in our futile attempts to take over the galaxy," Dubloch answered for Waut. "So why don't we just drop this whole thing of being Sith and just... live, you know what I mean?"

"And plus, it would be nice not be abused in our training, which would only get our asses kicked by the Jedi anyway," Derely interjected.

"Derely, shut the fuck up," Waut said to him. Derely only gave him an annoyed look in return.

"If by live, you mean demean yourselves to ugwumps, I refuse to be a part of that," Sashal said. "Along with every other Sith here today." She then looked out among the squadron. "Am I correct?"

Instead of affirmative answers, all of the other Sith either looked to their feet, to Sashal, or to the teenagers who brought up their argument.

"Well?" Sashal emphasized, not liking where this was going.

"Lady Sashal," one of the Sith in the circle-a Keshiri male-called out. "May I speak freely?"

"Speak," Sashal said sternly.

"Look at what we've been reduced to, milady," he said as he waved his arms around the circle, deactivating his lightsaber so that he wouldn't accidentally maim or kill any of his fellow Sith in the circle. "Every Sith here on Kesh is all that remains of the Lost Tribe. This is what has occurred in our goal to take over the galaxy from the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance. Why should we expect anything different when we are deemed strong enough again."

"Because we will be stronger, Saber Jeza," Sashal answered. "And we will be more swift and cunning. We will defeat the Jedi, and then the Galactic Alliance. I promise you that."

Sashal then then her head over into Vestara's direction. "You have a thought, Tyro Khai?"

Vestara stared back at Sashal with a shocked look. "Yes, I do, Lady Sashal."

"Speak your mind then," Sashal said.

"Even if the Lost Tribe could recuperate their numbers," Vestara began, "I assure you, by the time that happens, the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance will be defeated anyway... by stronger Sith."

"Stronger Sith?" Sashal asked in shock just as all the other Sith-including Dubloch, Waut, and Derely-gasped in the same state. "What are you talking about, Khai?"

"I'm talking about the One Sith," Vestara answered. "We are stronger and much more numerous than the Lost Tribe is. The One Sith accepted me because of the fact that they won't kill me, and because I have spent quite a bit of time with the Skywalkers. My knowledge of the Jedi Grand Master and his son, along with a substantial amount of knowledge regarding the Jedi Order, makes me an asset to the One Sith. Even as we speak, we are gathering in power, and we will overthrow the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance. But if you go after us, you and the rest of the Tribe members will not only be defeated, but you will be wiped out entirely. So you can either join us, stay out of our way, or die, Sashal."

Sashal's eyebrows lifted at the boldness of Vestara's speech. "If the One Sith are so powerful," she said, "then I say we join them."

"Not I," Saber Jeza said.

"Nor I," the Sith beside him said.

The rest followed. No one wanted to be part of the One Sith other than Lady Sashal.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that Velk, Chauck, and Dith are all right," Jeza said, and he got nods of affirmation from the other Sith in the circle. "There's no point. We should just drop out entirely."

"That's your decision, Jeza," Vestara said. "As for Lady Sashal, we shall depart in Ship now."

Everyone else looked at Vestara curiously as she looked up into the sky. They stared up at what she was seeing, which was the organic, circular form of the Sith Meditation Sphere known as Ship. It landed outside of the circle, next to the ChaseMaster frigate, and one side of its hull lowered into a makeshift ramp.

Vestara waved Sashal along, and the two of them then departed the circle for Ship. "As for the rest of you," she said as she and Sashal retreated, "you may take your leave as you wish. But keep in mind, if you're not joining us, stay out of our way, or you die." At that, she completely turned her back on them as she followed Sashal up the ramp and into Ship himself. After he furled up his ramp, he lifted off and disappeared into the bright, daytime sky.

Once Ship was gone with Vestara and Sashal, Dubloch, Waut, and Derely looked around to the other Sith, who extinguised their lightsabers as Dubloch said, "So who wants to come back to Coruscant so we can have some delicious food?"

They all agreed.

"Wait," Jeza said, "what about us Keshiri?" He nodded to all of the Keshiri members. There were six in total, which were half that of the group of Sith around Dubloch, Waut, and Derely.

"Ever hear of makeup?" Dubloch retorted.

"Or if you wanna go permanent, cosmetic surgery," Derely suggested.

"I think skin bleach might do well enough, Derely," Waut said contemptuously.

"Eh, whatever, let's go," one of the other Sith, who was human, said.

With that, they all boarded the ChaseMaster frigate and departed for the sky.

"Hey, shouldn't we go back for the Mole Miner?" Derely, who was in the copilot seat, asked as the ChaseMaster, piloted by Waut, soared into the sky.

"Fuck the Mole Miner, we got a good ship, Derely," Waut said.

Once they were in space, however, they ran into an entire wave of Jedi StealthXs that came immediately out of hyperspace.

"Oh, fuck," Waut said with eyes wide beneath his shades.

The ChaseMaster's comm beeped. Derely answered it.

"This is Grand Master Luke Skywalker of the Jedi Order," a firm, male voice came over the comm. "I am only going to say this once: Surrender or die."

"We surrender," Derely said abruptly.

"R-really?" the voice at the other end said in a surprised tone. "Okay then. Prepare to be boarded and arrested for your crimes."

"What crimes?" Waut asked angrily.

"For your near-takeover of the Galactic Alliance, the subsequent devastation caused by your alliance with Abeloth, and numerous other atrocities too numerous to count," Skywalker replied.

"Hey, if it weren't for you Jedi, that might never have happened!" Waut exclaimed. "And plus, all the individuals on this ship had nothing to do with that battle! In fact, we're actually going back to Coruscant for food, and to set up a new lifestyle! So how 'bout you leave us alone and fuck off!"

"Hold on, I recognize your voice," Skywalker said. "Aren't you the same Sith who kidnaped Vestara Khai from the academy on Denon?"

"Former Sith, thank you very much," Waut said as Derely and Dubloch-who was in the navigator's chair while the other Sith were in the passengers' compartment-slapped their foreheads to Waut's idiocy. "And yes, that was me and my two friends, Dubloch Velk and Derely Dith, who did that."

"Well, you'll be arrested for that," Skywalker said.

"Shit," Waut replied.

"Yeah, well, what the hell did you think was gonna happen, Waut, telling him that shit?" Dubloch said.

Waut waved him silent. "Oh, yeah?" he continued into the comm. "We have like twelve other former Sith who just renounced their allegiance to their way of life so they can start anew as civilians in the Galactic Alliance. And I'll remind you, Master Skywalker, that they had nothing to do with the devastation on Coruscant individually."

"We'll see about that after we board you," Skywalker replied. "Oh, and by the way, you're also under arrest for baradium poisoning back on Denon."

"What? How the fuck did that happen?" Waut asked as one StealthX headed for the ChaseMaster.

"When you somehow disappeared, the baradium missiles fired upon you caused nuclear blasts that began seeping radiation all throughout Denon's atmosphere," Skywalker explained. "We had to commence a short-notice evacuation as a result. Our experts in the Order say that it'll be about half a decade before the poisoning in Denon's atmosphere will clear out."

"Where ya gonna relocate then?" Derely asked out of curiosity.

"Back to Ossus," Skywalker said. "That's where you will all be imprisoned for your crimes. And given your cooperation, you may very well get out early for good behaviour; with the exception of the gentleman who just told me to 'fuck off.'"

"Oh, get over it, you're even more of a pussy than Derely here," Waut said.

"Hey!" Derely exclaimed.

"Shut up," Waut said.

"Well, at least it wasn't 'shut the fuck up, Derely,' this time," Derely said sarcastically before they heard the StealthX dock with the ChaseMaster's airlock.

"Wait, you sent one Jedi for us, Master Skywalker?" Dublock asked.

"Yes. While your cooperation maybe misconstrued as a trap, assuming that you're lying about your surrender, I sent the one Jedi that none of you could hope to combat anyway."

"Who?" Derely asked.

"You'll see," Skywalker said. "In the meantime, may I have a word with Vestara Khai?"

"No, you may not, Master Skywalker, because Khai isn't here," Dubloch said.

"Where is she?" Skywalker asked.

"She left with Ship and Lady Sashal to the One Sith," Dubloch answered.

"The One Sith?" Skywalker asked.

"We didn't bother asking what it was because we didn't give a flying fuck," Waut said. "The only thing she told us about it was that it's assured that the One Sith is going to bring down the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance sometime in the future."

"Really?" Skywalker asked. "Well, that sounds like something that the Jedi Order needs to look into. Did Vestara say where she was going exactly? A planet, a moon, or station?"

"We don't know," Dubloch said. "You'll have to find that out for yourself."

At that, they heard shocked gasps from the passengers' compartment from all of the former Sith there. The three former Sith in the cockpit turned around in the direction of that compartment, and just a few seconds later, Jaina Solo, the Sword of the Jedi, stepped in.

"So you're the Sith who took Vestara Khai?" Solo asked.

"_Former_ Sith,_ former_," Waut clarified in restrained anger as Dubloch and Derely stared at Solo in fear. When Waut saw the expressions on his friends' faces, he asked, "Who are you, by the way?"

"Waut, that's Jaina Solo Fel, the Sword of the fucking Jedi!" Dubloch exclaimed. "This woman could kill us all in under five seconds with just a toothpick, nevermind her lightsaber." He turned back to Solo. "No wonder Skywalker sent you."

"Exactly," Skywalker's voice said over the still-open comm.

"Oh, shut up," Waut said before he cut the comm. He then turned back to Solo. "So you gonna take us in now?"

"Once you relinquish control of the ChaseMaster frigate, I will," Solo said calmly as she approached Waut. "And by the way..."

Suddenly, she punched Waut straight in the face and then threw him out of the pilot's chair by his shoulders. Landing prone to the deck, Waut then felt his back being stepped on by Solo's boot so that he was pinned there.

"Don't disrespect the Grand Master of the Jedi Order by telling him to shut up," she said. She then took her boot off of his back, allowing him to push himself to his feet. Waut then looked to Dubloch and Derely, who sat in their seats in fear.

"Gee, thanks for helping me, guys," he said sarcastically to them.

"All of you, back to the passengers' compartment," Solo demanded of them. "I can handle the piloting myself."

Without hesitation, Dubloch and Derely stood up from their seats-not too fast so that Solo would react in a way that would make her activate her lightsaber and kill them-and then proceeded to the passengers' compartment. They each grabbed one of Waut's shoulders so that he wouldn't have anymore problems with Solo.  
The second after they fastened themselves to the seats they found, they felt the ChaseMaster disappear into hyperspace.

Several minutes later, Solo walked out of the cockpit and spotted Dubloch, Waut, and Derely all in different seats around the passengers' compartment. With the exception of Waut, who seemed to be more angry than intimidated by Solo, they all cowered in fear at the site of her.

Seeing that Dubloch was closer, Solo approached him and knelt down before him next to his seat, his expression of fear never changing.

"Vestara Khai killed Abeloth, didn't she?" she asked him.

"How do you know that?" Dubloch asked.

"We Jedi felt her death in the Force after we evacuated from Denon," Solo explained. "And you were there when Khai killed her, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," Dubloch confirmed.

"What did she use to kill Abeloth with?"

"The Dagger of Mortis," Dubloch answered.

"Of course," Solo said in realization. "And did she take the Dagger with her?"

"She did," Dubloch nodded.

"Ah," Solo said with a blank expression. "I need to inform that to Master Skywalker as soon as we get out of this hyperspace run. Thank you for your time." With that, she returned to the cockpit.

Dubloch then released the breath that he hadn't realized he held at that moment.

~o~

After Ship settled down on one of the One Sith Temple's landing pads on Korriban, Vestara and Sashal disembarked as the former carried the Dagger of Mortis in her hands. She told Sashal of what it was, and the fact that she used it to kill Abeloth. Sashal was pleased with that, feeling that Vestara had avenged Grand Lord Darish Vol's death, since he died under Abeloth's hands early into the Lost Tribe's occupation of Coruscant.

The two Sith women entered the Temple and were met by a few Sith attendants. Seeing the weapon that Vestara held, they all guided her and Sashal to a nearby room off in one of the Temple's corridors.

The room they entered was filled with prize collections of varying objects too numerous for Vestara to note. It was large and grandiose, yet it seemed as if it couldn't contain the splendor that it held.

This must be the One Sith's trophy room, Vestara thought. She never thought she would ever be in this room.

One of the attendants found a spot for Vestara to place the Dagger of Mortis on. She approached that spot and laid the Dagger there for all to see.

~o~

Although Ossus looked the worst for wear, Luke thought in the cockpit of his StealthX as he and the rest of the Jedi fleet approached the planet with their cargo of Sith prisoners-or _former_ Sith prisoners, as the former Sith known as Waut Chauck felt appropriate to emphasize.

All it would take, really, was a few repairs on Ossus, and then the Jedi academy there could begin anew. The hasty retreat made by the Order several months ago was because of the impending Lost Tribe invasion that resulted in only one Jedi shuttle being destroyed by the Sith. That was made in a failed attempt to assassinate Hapan Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo.

The site of Ossus, however, wasn't what was holding Luke's attention at the moment. He was having a brief comm conversation with Jaden Korr, the leader of the Ten Knights.

"We will continue our search for the Dagger of Mortis, Master Skywalker," Jaden said. "Thank you for the update regarding Vestara Khai's current possession of it."

"I'm glad to hear it, Jedi Korr," Luke said. "In the meantime, you should know that the Jedi have relocated back to Ossus because of the baradium poisoning on Denon."

Jaden nodded. "Is there any other updates that my squadron and I should know about, Master Skywalker?"

"No," Luke answered. "That will be all, Jedi Korr. Skywalker, out." He then cut the comm, and continued his approach to Ossus without further interruption.


	2. Chapter 2

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 2

"You bear the child of a Skywalker?" Darth Wyyrlok said to Vestara as she met him in his private chambers.

"I have," she said with an affirmative nod.

"I see," he said as he leaned back in the chair that sat behind his desk. "You should have told us that you would seduce young Ben Skywalker for this purpose."

"I wasn't intending for it to go like this," Vestara said. "But as it is, I'm going to go through with the baby."

"You have only done this for yourself." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"You did not even attempt to lure him over to the dark side?"

"Ben is too headstrong for that. He refuses to take in its power."

"Nevertheless, this does give us an advantage," Wyyrlok said. "After all, you carry within yourself the next generation of Skywalker. To have one of the Skywalker bloodline is a privilege for the One Sith. You have done well, even if that was not your intention."

"Am I to receive any form of punishment for my brief abandonment of the One Sith?" Vestara asked.

"Combined with the fact of whose child you carry, along with your permanent slaying of Abeloth, your recovery of the Dagger of Mortis, and the addition of another member to the One Sith have more than made up for your relatively minor transgression of leaving the One Sith without proper notice, Lady Khai," Wyyrlok said.

"Thank you, Lord Wyyrlok," Vestara said with a nod of her head. "If you do not need me any further, I shall retire to my quarters."

Wyyrlok then waved her off, allowing her to stand up from one of the guest chairs, turn around, and she then proceeded to leave.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Wyyrlok said, stopping Vestara dead in her tracks. She turned around to face him. "During our debriefing of Lady Sashal, she mentioned that there were Sith on Kesh who turned down your offer to join us, and they elected to simply quit being Sith altogether. I must say, Lady Khai, I'm surprised that you allowed them to live."

"They will stay out of our way, Lord Wyyrlok," Vestara said. "They pose no threat to us."

"Maybe not a direct threat," Wyyrlok allowed. "But if the Jedi got their hands on them..." He deliberately trailed off as he gave Vestara a look that indicated what might happen if the Jedi interrogated the former Sith of what Vestara told them before she and Sashal left Kesh with Ship. "They left Kesh, did they not?"

"They did, as far as my knowledge goes," Vestara confirmed with a nod.

"And what do you think the odds are that they would run into the Jedi?" Wyyrlok asked.

Vestara's eyes widened in shock as she deliberated over this.

"Did I also forget to mention that the Jedi hastily departed Denon because of baradium poisoning?" Wyyrlok asked.

Vestara then remembered the baradium missiles fired upon the Mole Miner that Velk, Chauck, and Dith used to rescue her from Denon's Jedi Temple. When Onimi teleported them all the way to Kesh, those missiles must have resulted in severe baradium poisoning for the entire planet.

In spite of what Wyyrlok was insinuating, Vestara couldn't help but think of what Onimi said of what the teleportation effects would do to her baby. She needed to have that checked out with one of the Sith Temple's medical wards.

Remembering what Wyyrlok just told her of the Jedi's exodus of Denon, she replied, "I doubt the Jedi would run into Velk and the others."

"Really?" Wyyrlok asked. His tone seemed sarcastic. "Then what would you say about this?" He then activated a holprojection on his tabletop that showed a vid recording of a Jedi StealthX fleet capturing a ChaseMaster frigate.

The same ChaseMaster that Velk and the others used to depart Kesh.  
At that, Vestara felt like her heart climbed up to her throat. She gulped to suppress the feeling.

"In fact," Wyyrlok continued, "the Jedi found them before the former Sith even left the Kesh system."

"How did the Jedi find them?" Vestara asked. "I never gave the coordinates during my entire stay with the Skywalkers, or during my time with the rest of the Jedi overall."

"The aftereffects of your killing Abeloth allowed the Jedi to use the Force to trace it all the way back to your homeplanet," Wyyrlok explained as he shifted the holovid recording to an image of StealthXs invading the surface of Kesh. "A contingent of the StealthX wing stayed behind to apprehend, and otherwise 'take care of,' the Sith stragglers still on Kesh. This happened just yesterday, and the Jedi have eliminated all of the other Lost Tribe members there. By the way, those were all the Lost Tribe members who remained following their departure from Coruscant several months ago."

"No!" Vestara exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that..."

"Yes," Wyyrlok said. "You, Sashal, and the former Sith who the Jedi have taken are all that remains of the Lost Tribe of the Sith."

Vestara restrained herself from giving into the feeling of dropping to the floor in order to revel in her grief.

"If it were just those Sith on Kesh, I might not have told you this," Wyyrlok said. "But thanks to your decision to leave Dubloch Velk and those other Sith traitors alive..." He then pressed another button that recorded the conversation between Luke Skywalker and the former Sith, primarily Velk, Chauck, and Dith. When Chauck mentioned the One Sith, Vestara sucked through her teeth as Wyyrlok shut the rest of the recording off.

He then shook his head. "If it weren't for your child," he said, "I might just kill you for this. As it is... let's see how your baby is growing, hmm?"

~o~

Ben Skywalker settled down in the very hut that his father's own Master Yoda had lived in the last twenty-three years of his life on Dagobah. Laying on the cot he brought along with him, he settled down to sleep for the night.

However, he was soon roused from his slumber only a few minutes later when he felt his Uncle Han Solo's presence appear in the Dagobah system. He climbed out of the cot, put some clothes on, and then he stepped out to watch the _Millennium Falcon_ soar down from the sky.

A few minutes later, the _Falcon_ touched the ground near the swamp where Yoda's hut was. After its landing ramp opened up, Han Solo stepped down the ramp.

"Uncle Han," Ben called curiously. "It's good to see you. May I ask what you're here for?"

Once Han stopped before Ben, he asked, "I need you to answer me a question, kid."

"Oh? What of?"

"About why you didn't ask your Sith girlfriend how she found out my granddaughter was the Jedi queen, or how she knew she was in the Jedi Temple's hangar bay in time to attempt an assassination on her," Han said. "So tell me: Why didn't you ask her that on either occasion?"

"What occasions?" Ben asked, not liking where this was going.

"You know what I'm talking about," Han said.

Ben sighed in defeat once he caught on. "I'm sorry I didn't do that," Ben said. "I thought we might've had time to interrogate her about that."

"You know where she is?"

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," Ben replied.

Han looked at his nephew in surprise.

"I would tell the Jedi Order, certainly," Ben quickly clarified. "But not you."

"Why not?"

"Because you'd go after her."

"So?"

"She has my child. If that weren't so, maybe I'd tell you, and that`s a big maybe. As it is, I can't let you even hurt Vestara even if I did know where she was."

"What makes you think she hasn't gotten rid of your kid already?" Han asked.

"I'd know about that," Ben replied.

"Oh, right, the Force, I forgot," Han said. "But then, how could I trust you if you did know whether or not she got rid of your baby? What if you're doing this just for her, even after all the crap she pulled off with you and the rest of the Jedi Order?"

"Again, I'd inform the Order if I knew of Vestara's whereabouts," Ben said. "Just not to you."

Ben and Han stared down at each other for a moment before Ben asked, "Where's Aunt Leia?"

"Back in the Hapes Consortium with Allana and Tenel Ka," Han said. "I came here by myself, just to see you."

"For Vestara, you mean," Ben said.

"Well, I guess if you don't know," Han said, reminding Ben that he would hold it against him for holding back Vestara's whereabouts, "then I guess this little social visit is over."

"I guess it is," Ben said.

"Goodbye, Ben," Han said as he turned around and approached the _Millennium Falcon_. "Enjoy the rest of your six-month exile here."

"Goodbye, Uncle Han," Ben said, the note of contempt for the subjects that Han brought up showing through his tone. Even though his dad told him that he could stay for Vestara's trial, that became an impossibility once Vestara was rescued from Denon. Now that she had disappeared, Ben had to leave for Dagobah early and wait out his exile until then.

Han didn't say another word as he walked up the ramp, retracted it once he was inside the ship, and a few moments later, it took off for space, leaving Ben alone on Dagobah.

~o~

"The infant appears to continue a natural state of growth within your womb, Lady Khai," one of the One Sith's med droids informed her in the Temple's medical ward as she sat on the edge of the ward's bed. "There do not appear to be any kind of mutations or disorders to speak of at this time."

"That is good to hear," Darth Wyyrlok, the only other occupant in the room, said. He then turned to Vestara. "Especially for you, Lady Khai. Had the baby been genetically defected in any way, I would have aborted it against your will and meted out the punishment necessary for your indirect reveal of the One Sith's existence to the Jedi. Make no mistake, though, I will mete out such punishment after the baby is born... or it otherwise goes through a miscarriage by any means."

The thought of a miscarriage brought instant fear upon Vestara. She saw through Wyyrlok's unsubtle smile and found that he read her mind and reveled in her fear, just as he did when he felt her fear regarding the physical state her child might be born in. Vestara would be doubly concerned if Wyyrlok were to actually plan a deliberate miscarriage so that he could assign her the punishment for Waut Chauck's reveal of the One Sith.

Not that any such punishment could rival the emotional pain that she would feel with her child's loss.

"Oh, I assure you, Khai," Wyyrlok said. "You will suffer punishments that will go beyond the grief that you would feel for your child's hypothetical death. But don't concern yourself with that... for now. As it is, I wouldn't plan a deliberate attempt on your infant's life unless I was ordered to. Like I said, this will be advantageous to us. This Skywalker will be born and raised a Sith, unlike his ancestors, all who were tainted as Jedi. You are dismissed to your quarters now, Lady Khai."

"What about the situation with Velk and the others?" Vestara asked.

"The Jedi would know no more than what you had told your former Sith compatriots," Wyyrlok explained. "You will suffer for this one way or the other just for the event that revealed our existence to the Jedi... after you have gone through the entirety of your pregnancy, that is. Either way, it would be pointless to send agents to kill Velk and the other former Sith. We'll just let this play out."

~o~

Luke sighed wearily. After more than a week of interrogating Dubloch Velk, Waut Chauck, Derely Dith, and the other former Sith from Kesh, the Jedi had only gotten the same story: Vestara only revealed to them that there is a sect of Sith called the One Sith. But as to where they were, these former Lost Tribe members did not seem to know.

He then thought back to his final battle against Abeloth, in beyond shadows. He remembered that he was joined against her with a mysterious, tattooed man who was clearly a Sith, but who did not belong to the Lost Tribe. Was he a member of this One Sith, he wondered?

Luke was then cajoled out of his thoughts when his commlink beeped. He answered it. "Go ahead."

"Master Skywalker," Corran Horn's voice said at the other line, "we have Natasi Daala."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I thought she was arrested back in Imperial space." Following Vitor Reige's electoral victory as Imperial Head of State, it was believed that Daala and her supporters, like Moff Drikl Lecersen, were charged and arrested for treason against the Imperial Remnant.

"That's what we thought, too," Corran said. "But she managed to escape somehow."

"Boba Fett?" Luke asked.

"We don't think so this time," Corran replied. "But it is a possibility to consider."

"How'd we get her?" Luke asked.

"The Ten Knights found her fleet and intercepted her in a random system in the Outer Rim," Corran explained. "They defeated her easily, and she chose to surrender."

"Daala surrendered?" Luke asked incredulously.

"I know, right?" Corran replied. "First we have Sith who surrender, and now Daala. What's next, are pirates and smugglers gonna live straight lives now?"

"Han Solo did," Luke responded. "Maybe that isn't too much of an impossibility."

"Right," Corran said.

"What's the status in the Ten Knights' search for the Dagger of Mortis, by the way?" Luke asked, serious again.

"Nothing yet. We'll be notified about that when it happens, obviously."

"Very well. Is that all, Master Horn?"

"That is all, Master Skywalker."

"Good. Skywalker out." He then cut the comm.

~o~

"Say, would you do that?" Waut asked Dubloch as he nodded his head to the woman who two Jedi were escorting down the Ossus Jedi Temple's prison block.

"The gray-haired, redheaded one with the eyepatch?" Dubloch asked as he and Waut were sitting on the cot that made up the bed in their prison cell.

"Yeah, would you?" Waut asked again.

"I think she might be a little too old for me. Why, would you do her?"

"No, I was just wondering if you would."

"You wanna do her, don't you?" Dubloch asked.

"Fine, I do. Think that's a little weird?"

"I just never knew you to like older women, Waut," Dubloch said with a shrug.

"Well, I do, okay, Dub?"

"Hey, not saying it's a bad thing," Dubloch said with a wave of his hands.

"Eh, whatever," Waut replied. "I'm just wondering why the hell Onimi hasn't rescued us yet. He promised us that he would help us get away from the Jedi."

"We got just that when he sent us to Earth," Dubloch said. "I guess he thinks that he's held up his end of the bargain."

"Fucking asshole!" Waut said. "You know, he's just psycho enough to think that he did hold up that bargain."

"Yep, I think that, too, Waut," Dubloch said in a defeated nod.

"Well, I guess we're fucked then," Waut said.

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Dubloch said. "Say, you know how Derely's doing by the way?"

"He has a separate cell for himself last I heard," Waut said. "Since he's such a spineless pussy, he'd have been raped by any of the other former Sith with us."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Dubloch commented.

~o~

"Boba, I need you to come and help me again," Daala said into the commlink as she was granted her request of a private comm call.

"Not this time, Natasi," Boba Fett replied. "It was a mistake busting you out back on Coruscant. There's no point in busting you out now."

"What do you mean it was a mistake when you freed me back on Coruscant?"

"I thought you could help me out if I helped you out," Fett said. "But I haven't gotten squat from that deal."

"That wasn't my fault, that was Jagged Fel's!"

"No, it was your fault that you picked Moff Getelles to help you out when you didn't see early on how much of an idealist he was," Fett replied. "After all, he did support Fel's stance with the Galactic Alliance after you overthrown there. What did you think would happen with Getelles?"

"Hey, I told you where the scientists who created the nanovirus that infected Mandalore were," Daala shot back. "You owe me."

"I'll owe you if the data I got on that nanovirus can be successfully used to make an antidote for my planet," Fett replied. "Fair enough?"

"Fair enough, I guess. But how will I know when you do get your antitdote? I'm only allowed this one comm call, so you can't exactly update me on your progress."

"I won't have to. You'll know once I bust you out. Bye, Natasi." With that, he cut the link.

"Time's up, ma'am," one of the Jedi who stood outside the booth she was in said after he opened the door. "Time to take you back to your cell."

Breathing out through her nose in restrained anger, Daala turned back around to face the two Jedi. She allowed one of them to place the stuncuffs around her wrists, and then she let them drag her back to her cell.

~o~

After Fett cut the link at the console of the _Slave I_, his granddaughter, Mirta Gev, who sat beside him in the ship's copilot seat, asked, "Are you really going to help Daala again after the cure is set in motion?"

"Even if we're successful, no," Fett said. "Like I said, there's no point in helping her out. If anything, it'll only complicate things. I have nothing to gain from her if I do break her out again. And if I did that, we'd have the Jedi on our tails. Besides, Daala isn't accepted in either the Galactic Alliance or the Empire anymore. She's useless now."

"Then why did you just lie to her then?" Mirta asked.

"Had to shut her up somehow," Fett said.

"Well, it wasn't like she had an unlimited time on the comm," Mirta said. "You could have just said no in the end."

"Ah, it doesn't matter now," Fett waved off. "So what's the news on the antidote?"

"Goran commed me earlier about that," she answered. "He and Medrit are working on something based off the data even as we speak. They think they can synthesize that something, assuming it's successful, within the next couple of weeks."

"I'm a patient man. I can deal with that timeframe. And how is Jenga?"

Fett had the feeling that Mirta was smiling beneath her helmet when he brought up Jenga. "Your great-granddaughter is doing well, _buir_. She hopes to see Mandalore soon."

"Tell her I share her sentiments," Fett said. Jenga Orade was Mirta and her husband Ghes's two-year-old daughter. After Mirta recovered from the temporary injury brought upon her by the late Darth Caedus, she and Ghes had their child just less than a year later. She tied up Mirta and Ghes's world, and they had high hopes for her that she would become a great Mandalorian; one who could live up to her great-grandfather's legendary status.

"No problem," she said as she turned back to the console as the copilot.

Fett then set the coordinates for the world of Kiffu-where Sintas Vel, Ghes Orade, and Jenga Orade were-so that Fett and Mirta could see their family. A few moments later, the _Slave I_ was in hyperspace.

And it was too late for her to receive the bad news from Kiffu.

~o~

"You're pregnant?" Leia said in glee over the comm call she was having with Jaina. The static that was plaguing the transmission between Coruscant, where Jaina and Jag were, and the Hapes Consortium, where Leia and Allana were, didn't bother Leia in the least as she was having this conversation with her daughter. Seated in the guest quarters of the Hapan palace, Leia had to control herself from jumping up in excitement.

"Yeah, Mom!" Jaina said, elated. "We found out just this morning!"

"Oh, I'm so happy for you, Jaina! How did Jag take it?"

"He's happy about it, too, though he doesn't know if he can do good as a father," Jaina said in a less ecstatic tone.

"Oh, he'll be fine, I'm sure of it," Leia said. "And so will you."

"Uh, just one question, Mom."

"Yes?"

"How can I raise this child when I'm gonna be too busy as a Jedi Master?"

At that, Leia's delighted mood soured. She remembered when she first had Jaina and Jacen. Her duties as the New Republic's second Chief of State, along with all the problems that transpired as the Empire was dying down in hostilities, forced her to send the twins, and later Anakin, to be taken care of by Winter Celchu elsewhere. It did break Leia's heart knowing that when it came to her daughter and her duties, Jaina was inevitably going to have to fulfill her role as a Jedi.

"I think, Jaina, that you may have to hire a nanny in this case," Leia submitted.

"You have any ideas, Mom?" Jaina asked. "Because Winter's retired now."

Leia then pressed a knuckle against her lip in thought for a moment. Then she asked, "How about you give it to your father and I? We need the company since Tenel Ka is raising Allana by herself now. This is the last time I'll be able to see them in a long while now."

"What, Threepio and Artoo not giving you enough company?" Jaina retorted. They both chuckled at that.

"Well, human companionship still outranks the company of droids in my opinion," Leia said. "In any case, your dad and I will wait until then."

"That's good to know," Jaina said with a nod. Her expression was evidently sad.

"Jaina, honey, I know that this is probably going to be hard for you, not raising your child on your own," Leia said. "Believe me, I've been through that. But if you're going to spend nearly all your time with your child, you might as well quit being a Jedi."

"There's no way I'm doing that, Mom," Jaina said.

"Then you're just going to have to give the baby over to us when he or she is born," Leia said, her tone intended to be empathetic.

"I know," Jaina said. "It's just that I wished my Jedi duties wouldn't get in the way of my time with my baby, is all."

"I understand," Leia said.

"I know you do. Anyway, I gotta go. Nice talking with you, Mom. Love you."

"I love you, too, honey," Leia said. "Bye."

"Bye." With that, Jaina cut the comm.

Then a knock came at the door. "Come in," Leia said.

Han then walked in. "Hey, honey, how's everything going?"

"Oh, Han, I have the greatest news!" she said, standing up and out of the bed with the comm that she was talking to Jaina with still in her hands. "Jaina is pregnant!"

"Oh," Han said in mild surprise. "Oh!" he said again when the information really started to sink in. "Oh," he said, dejected, as Leia felt her husband through the Force, his thoughts running back to when Jaina was just his little girl. The realization that Jaina was a woman never really struck him until now, even in spite of all she went though in her life. "I feel old now, honey."

"Oh, Han," she said as she hugged him. "Want me to cheer you up?" she asked tantalizingly after she pulled back.

"That'd be nice," he replied as he allowed Leia to tug him over to bed.

~o~

When the _Slave I_ came out of hyperspace, the first thing that beeped on the console was the commlink. Fett answered it, and the image of Mirta's husband, Ghes Orade, appeared.

"Boba, Mirta," he said in a solemn tone. "I'm sorry that I'm going to have to tell you this."

"Tell us what, Ghes?" Mirta asked.

"You know what, actually, I think it'd be best if you came down and found out yourselves," he said.

"Find out about what, Ghes? What's wrong?" Mirta asked.

"I'm so sorry, Mirta," he said before he cut the link.

Without even needing to be told, Fett increased speed for Kiffu. The _Slave I_ was still burning orange hot via atmosphere entry as it settled on its struts outside the getaway hut where the Fetts and Orades were spending their vacation.

Mirta was the first one out of the Slave I as she rushed for the hut. Ghes had already opened the door and allowed her inside.

"What is it, Ghes?" Mirta asked again.

"In your grandmother's bedroom, Mirta," Ghes said waved.

Not asking anymore questions, Mirta ran to the direction of Sintas Vel's bedroom. When she opened the door, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her grandmother laying on her bed, eyes shut, with her skin completely pale. There was no sign of breathing. At the foot of the bed, Jenga simply stood there, her face red-rimmed with stale tears that dried up much earlier.

Mirta didn't even need to be a Force-user to determine that her grandmother was dead. And with that, she simply walked over to Sintas Vel's side, dropped to her knees, and cried on the edge of the bed. Jenga walked over and simply hugged her mother. She didn't cry herself; she did that enough. And even a two-year-old like Jenga knew that if she were to be a Mandalorian, she could only cry enough and know when she had to be there for the ones she loved.

Boba joined Ghes as they walked over to the entrance of Sintas Vel's bedroom. The two Mandalorian men just stood there silently. Ghes wondered how his grandfather-in-law was taking it beneath his helmet, since he could simply silence all sound from inside.

In his helmet, Fett simply let the tears run down his face without even a sob.

~o~

The next day, the Fetts and the Orades gathered around a pyre that was located nearby the hut where Sintas Vel spent her final days. Her body was placed on top of the pyre, and her ex-husband, Boba, approached her form after everyone said their farewells to her. He then lit her body on fire via his flamethrower before standing back, and, with the rest of his family, looked up into the sky to watch as her ashes filled the air above the pyre.

Sintas had died, according to Ghes, because of some kind of delayed reaction to her system that was the result of more than three decades of being frozen in carbonite. What was happening to her for the past five years was slow, quiet, and undetectable, so that while she seemed stable, she had been dying. In short, it was like a pack of commandos who were placing invisible mines in her body without any visible effects, and then, after all the preparations was done, those mines went off, killing her instantly.

Several minutes after the flames finally died away, the Fetts and the Orades returned to the hut. Boba was the only one who decided to retire to the Slave I.  
There, he found that someone was calling him on the comm. When he answered it, Goran Beviin-one of the few people he would ever consider a friend-was at the other end.

"Mandalore," Beviin said. "I have good news."

"Shoot," Fett said simply, his tone hiding the grief he felt for Sintas.

"Medrit and I have managed to synthesize a cure for the nanovirus faster than we expected," Beviin said. "We already deployed it about an hour ago throughout Mandalore's atmosphere, and, well... it worked!"

"It what?" Fett asked, disbelieving.

"It worked, Mandalore!" Beviin repeated. "The nanovirus is gone now! You and Mirta can return safe and sound!"

"Th... that's good news, Goran," Fett said. "I'll tell Mirta immediately. We'll be back with Jenga as soon as possible. Fett out." He cut the link.


	3. Chapter 3

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 3

"Jedi Thul," Luke, sitting behind his desk in his office, said to scar-repaired Jedi Knight Raynar Thul before him on the desk's other side. "Since your time with the Killik nest of the Thuruht was relatively short compared with your time as UnuThul, Master Cilghal has told me that these months of psychological recovery have completely recuperated you. And while your time in the Jedi Temples on Denon and here on Ossus have led to that recuperation, I must ask: Do you feel ready to return as part of the Jedi Order?"

"I do, Grand Master Skywalker," Raynar said with an affirmative nod. "And thank you for sending that Jedi squad after me in the Reo system all those months ago. It was good to see Lowie and Tekli among them, and it was good for Thuruht to know that Abeloth had been vanquished."

"Yes, I know," Luke replied. "It was good that they backed off from their preparations against her when they did. We wouldn't want to have another war with the Chiss again, now do we?"

"We wouldn't," Raynar answered with a quick shake of the head, even though Luke's question was rhetorical. "Anyway, what is my first duty back, Master Skywalker?"

"Let me brief you Jedi Thul," Luke said. He then waved his arm to the chair on the other side of the desk. "Please, have a seat." After Raynar sat in the chair, Luke continued. "About two years ago, while you were still in recovery over your first time with the Killiks, there was a terrorist group that had been trying to steal weapons from Tendrando Arms. One of their attempts to acquire Tendrando's weapons was in a failed hostage situation that they pulled off with Allana Djo Solo on Taris. Though the members of this group, which remains nameless much to our knowledge, were slain at the hands of Seff Hellin on Taris while he was under Abeloth's control, there were still members who tried to get these weapons through other means. Their attempts had similarly failed, and at the same time, they were not even as drastic or noticeable.

"By the time that the slave revolts across the galaxy occurred, this terrorist group had shrunken into complete obscurity, especially in light of what would happen afterwards." Luke didn't need to remind Raynar of the coup on Daala, the Sith's takeover of Coruscant, and the final battle against them and Abeloth. "But recently, since the slave revolts have quieted down to a few remote sectors, what with the legal practice of slavery practically dead under Wynn Dorvan's Galactic Alliance, this terrorist group has resurfaced. And this time, they actually managed to claim some weapons from Tendrando on Drewwa.

"The terrorist members were last seen fleeing Drewwa in several shuttles. In spite of the efforts of Almania's authorities, they all managed to escape into hyperspace with the weapons they stole. The authorities in the system failed to get even a tracking beacon on them or find out the coordinates they took."

"How could that be?" Raynar asked. "I mean, I don't think it's hard to retrace someone's hyperspace coordinates."

"When the authorities tried retracing the terrorists' hyperspace coordinates, their sensors had jammed," Luke explained. "They're not sure why, and we looked into it. So far, we haven't found out, either. Both the Jedi and the Almanian authorities do believe, however, that whatever jammed the authorities' sensors was deliberate."

"On the part of the terrorists?" Raynar asked.

"Most likely," Luke nodded. "We recently received an anonymous tip just a few hours ago that the terrorists were located on Bakura. I am sending you with Lowbacca and Tahiri Veila there to look into this. You are to neutralize these terrorists by any means necessary. Understood?"

"Understood," Raynar nodded. "When do we depart for Bakura?"

"As soon as possible," Luke said. "Tahiri and Lowie are already waiting for you in the Jedi Temple's hangar."

"Wait, you mean you knew I would say that I was recovered and that I would accept this assignment, Master Skywalker?" Raynar asked.

"Of course, Raynar," Luke replied. "In spite of your time with Thuruht, I still know that you are a great Jedi who will be up to the task when asked." He smiled. "Dismissed."

~o~

The Ten Knights came out of hyperspace right in the Korriban system. Up ahead was the seemingly dead world that the system was named after, and which was fused with the dark side of the Force. This was the Ten Knights' next stop in their search for the Dagger of Mortis, which the former Sith prisoners back on Ossus claimed was now in the hands of Vestara Khai.

Jaden Korr was aware that Khai had been on this planet alongside the Skywalkers and Jaina Solo about a year ago. They had been looking for Abeloth then, and they had specifically searched in Korriban's Sith Temple, which turned up empty, the Sith hounds that Khai stopped from killing the three Jedi notwithstanding. Despite Jaden's fear of the dark side of the Force, he had no problem visiting this world in order to search for the Dagger of Mortis. After all, it wouldn't do well for a Sith to have it in her hands.

"All units, report in," Jaden said over his StealthX's comm. "Knight One ready."

The subsequent Knights reported their statuses, then Jaden led them in for atmospheric entry into the planet. The poisonous feeling of the dark side was creeping into Jaden's Force senses, and he pitied the other Knights who had no more experience in fighting off the dark side than what Sith they killed back on Coruscant all those months ago. Regardless, no one reported in with the despairing feelings that the dark side brought about while they came in for a landing on the empty Sith Temple's landing pad.

When they all disembarked, however, things went awry fast.

From a nearby cliff flew in the Sith Meditation Sphere known as Ship, whose strafing run against them destroyed all of the StealthXs. The resultant explosions rocketed the Jedi across the landing pad everywhere.

After that strafing run, half of the Ten Knights were dead from the explosive waves on their StealthXs.

Fortunately for Jaden, he was not among the dead. But he was literally struck deaf due to the ear-shattering explosions, and he doubted that any amount of bacta would heal him up from that. Otherwise, he only got the wind knocked out of him. But after he pushed himself up to his feet, he saw all of the surviving Knights rolling around on the landing pad in agony.

From the looks of their injuries, Jaden saw, none of these Knights would survive the next few minutes without proper treatment. And since they were out here on this deserted Sith world, they were all doomed, and Jaden was now stranded with no way off of Korriban.

In spite of the inevitability of their predicament, Jaden rushed over to the side of his former apprentice and friend, Marr Idi-Shael, who lay prone and motionless on the ground. When he rolled Marr onto his back, he wasn't surprised to see that he had died from extensive head trauma, which was leaking out blood from his cone-like cranium. Jaden had already felt that Marr was no more, but looking upon the dead Cerean, he could only control himself from sobbing silent cries to his ears.

Suddenly, he felt something sharp sting his neck. Flinching from the pain, he pulled the source of the sting out of his neck and observed it. But he only had a few seconds to notice that it was a poison dart before he passed out.

~o~

"Excellent," Wyyrlok said as he viewed the unconscious and strapped-down Jaden on the operating table of the Sith Temple's medical ward. "Finally, we have Jaden Korr in our hands. After all these years, we've finally got him." He turned to the only other Sith with him in the room. "You are commended for telling Ship to make sure not to kill Korr, Dician. We've sacrificed too much already to have him fall to our clutches. In spite of his deafness, it is a problem that can be easily overcome, and which you will not be condemned for."

"Thank you, Lord Wyyrlok," Dician replied. "Shall I take my leave?"

"By all means," Wyyrlok waved. After Dician left the ward, Wyyrlok turned back to the unconscious Jaden. He then approached him, walked to the head of the table, and then laid his hands on Jaden's head.

Wyyrlok thought that it would be more difficult, and that it would take many months–if not a few years or so–to turn Jaden over to the dark side had he remained in his actual body. But since, as Wyyrlok sensed, he was inhabiting the body of the Iteration–a clone of his assigned to the late Nenn siblings–Force-washing his mind would be all the more simpler.

Several hours later, Wyyrlok was done.

And when Jaden awoke, the One Sith had received one of their most powerful members.

~o~

"If the Ten Knights have not reported in, Master Katarn," Luke said to the Jedi Master on the other side of his desk, "that means that they have nothing to report in on their search."

"Normally, I would agree, Master Skywalker," Kyle Katarn replied. "But when I last tried to contact Jaden Korr yesterday, I received no response."

"Oh?" Luke questioned. "That is problematic. Say, what were you going to speak to Jedi Korr about anyway?"

"If you must know, Master Skywalker," Kyle said, "I was about to inform my former apprentice about the death of his friend, Khedryn Faal, who he met during his time in the Unknown Regions a few years ago. As you may also be aware, Marr Idi-Shael, Jaden's former Jedi apprentice and other friend from the Unknown Regions, is also part of the Ten Knights. I felt that they deserved to know."

Luke was vaguely aware of Jaden's friendship to his former apprentice Marr and cargo hauler Khedryn Faal, the latter who had worked with Marr in this profession. They had worked together when they tracked down the Jedi-Sith hybrid clones that had escaped the long-dead Grand Admiral Thrawn's cloning facility in the Unknown Regions. After Jaden reported the mission in as a success, with all of the clones dead and no further threat to anyone else, he returned with Marr to the Jedi Order. In spite of his friendship with Khedryn, Marr saw the benefits of honing his mathematical skills in the Force as a Jedi, and so they left each other. The last that Luke heard of Khedryn before Kyle brought him up, he decided to become a smuggler, since cargo hauling wasn't paying well enough for him.

"What happened to Khedryn Faal, may I ask?" Luke inquired.

"He had a fatal run-in with the law, Master Skywalker," Kyle answered. "He was smuggling in spice to Coruscant when he was pulled out by CSF and investigated. He put up a bit of a fight, and was shot for his trouble."

"The officers didn't set their blasters to stun?" Luke asked.

"I know, it's suspicious," Kyle replied. "I already have someone looking into this matter as we speak. Anyway, after my failure with contacting Jaden, I tried Marr. No luck either. In fact, none of the Ten Knights responded to any of my calls. Something's going on, Master Skywalker, and I think we should investigate this, as well."

"Do you sense Jaden in any danger, Master Katarn?" Luke asked.

Kyle opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself. "Actually, I think I did feel something. About a week ago or so, after we caught the former Sith from Kesh. I was tending to my duties when I felt a flash of brief agony, which I thought must've only come from Jaden due to our connection based on the relationship we held as Master and apprentice. When I searched the Force to trace the feeling back, I only felt that Jaden was all right with the other Ten Knights, and they were continuing their search as usual. Despite that, I don't think Jaden or any of the other Ten Knights are all right; I think they might be concealed, perhaps by these One Sith characters that those former Sith prisoners we got mentioned."

"I think so, too, Master Katarn. This is problematic," Luke admitted. "Does anyone in the Order know where the Ten Knights' last stop was?"

"Dromund Kaas, I believe it was," Kyle answered without hesitation.

"Very well, I'll send a task force there to look into the Ten Knights' whereabouts, Master Katarn," Luke said. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, Master Skywalker."

"Good. And when I have the Ten Knights on comm after they're found, I'll make sure to inform Jedis Korr and Idi-Shael of their friend's death."

"Thank you, Master Skywalker." Then Kyle left.

~o~

Just a few minutes earlier, Raynar, Tahiri, and Lowbacca were following a man through one of Bakura's cities. This human male, of average height, possibly in his mid-thirties, matched a description, provided by the Almanian authorities, of one of the terrorists who stole weapons from the Tendrando establishment on Drewwa. Had this been any other world but Bakura, he would have been caught by the local authorities. But since this _was_ Bakura, which was an isolationist world who had minimal contact with the outside galaxy, given their experiences with the Ssi-ruu Imperium, walking in broad daylight with obscurity as his ally here was a piece of cake for the terrorist.

The three disguised Jedi followed the man into a hardware store. The terrorist went up to the counter and shared a few words with the cashier that neither of the Jedi could listen in to with their normal hearing. Then the cashier led the terrorist behind the counter and to one of the store's backrooms. With that, Raynar, Tahiri, and Lowbacca dropped their pretense of browsing the store for tools and decided to follow them back after they vaulted over the counter.

But now, once the three of them found that they were in a large, expansive room with a whole group of terrorists pointing a variety of blasters at them, they knew, without a doubt, that they had stumbled upon at least one of the terrorists' bases. That was no surprise.

What was a surprise was Prince Xizor sitting behind a desk at the very back of the nondescript room.

"Kill them," Xizor said to the terrorists around him without hesitation.

But as soon as the bolts came flying for the three Jedi, the trio then whipped out their lightsabers and ignited them in one swift motion in time to bat back the first few bolts. After the initial onslaught, Raynar, Tahiri, and Lowbacca moved out across the room to dispatch the terrorists, batting aside the laser projectiles their way. Only a quarter of a minute passed before the terrorists found that their weapons laid in pieces on the ground. From each of them, that was the last thing they noticed before their superhuman quarries knocked them unconscious with the butts of their lightsabers.

During the altercation, however, Xizor, obviously seeing the folly of sticking around when the Jedi would clearly be the victors, pushed himself out of his desk and rushed for the wall behind him. He shoved at one spot, and then a large section of the wall slid away for the Falleen to duck into. The trapdoor closed behind him after he was through. But only a few seconds later did Tahiri's blade slash into the section of the false wall that Xizor escaped through, and after that fell in, she and her male companions followed her through.

The Jedi trio then found themselves rushing down a blue-lit hallway with Xizor several meters ahead of them. He took only one look behind him to note them chasing him, not slowing down or stopping in the process, before he reached a turbolift. One press of a button quickly opened the doors, and after he stepped through, he turned back and had the doors closed just as quickly. Neither Tahiri, Lowbacca, or Raynar ever had a chance to slip through and capture him. But Lowbacca did decide to slash open the doors around their hinges, and they fell inwards down the shaft, which, the Jedi saw, led several stories down to some sub-basements.

All three of them then jumped through and allowed themselves to fall down to the top of the moving turbolift. They used the Force to accelerate their speed, and then cushion the impact upon landing. Then, after they landed, the turbolift came to a sudden halt, which threw Raynar and Tahiri down onto their backs. Lowbacca, on the other hand, thanks to his natural, mighty strength as a Wookiee, at least managed to stay on his feet, even if he did have to crouch over as a result.

While Raynar and Tahiri were helping each other to their feet, Lowbacca was already cutting a hole in the roof of the turbolift with his lightsaber. Once he was done and the chunk of ceiling fell in, he dropped in and slashed at the turbolift doors. They fell in and he saw Xizor running down another nondescript, blue-lit hallway that was leading to an underground hangar bay. He then sprinted after the Falleen Prince just as Raynar and Tahiri fell in behind him.

In the hangar bay, Xizor rushed for a small yacht. After manually lowering the loading ramp with a button attached on the hull, which took only a couple of seconds, the Falleen rushed up the ramp, and, once he was inside, it didn't escape his mind to push the button to quickly close the loading ramp.

With Tahiri and Raynar behind Lowbacca, neither of the human Jedi could make it inside Xizor's yacht. But the Wookiee Jedi did, and he managed to make it on the ascending landing ramp just as it was beginning to raise. Inside, he continued to pursue the Falleen Prince to the cockpit, easily cutting through the blastdoors that Xizor managed to manually drop before Lowbacca along the way. The Wookiee was only vaguely aware that Tahiri and Raynar had only just used their lightsabers to cut at the landing ramp in order to get inside the yacht.

After Lowbacca cut through the last blastdoor, which led into the yacht's cockpit, he looked around to find Xizor, but found that Falleen was absent. He only had two seconds to wonder where he was before the Prince dropped from the ceiling of the cockpit above and swiftly kicked him square in the face. Lowbacca stumbled back anc collapsed just outside the cockpit on his back. The next thing he knew, Xizor withdrew a blaster from the inside of his tunic and then fired off a quick few shots. Lowbacca batted the bolts away as he backed away, still on his back. He managed to catch a break when Xizor shifted his aim for Tahiri and Raynar once they finally caught up with them. The Wookiee took advantage of the Falleen's distraction by rolling back across his shoulder and up to his feet to join his human counterparts.

As Xizor continued to fire, it seemed as if it was a surety that his blaster pack would run out and the Jedi would finally be able to apprehend him. But then, suddenly, he gasped and seized into a spasm, dropping his blaster in the process. He then collapsed to his knees and began oozing out blue fluids from every orifice on his body. As the Jedi watched with a healthy mixture of confusion and fear, Xizor's entire body was rendered into a puddle of blue fluid.

~o~

"Any news regarding the investigation of Khedryn Faal's death?" Luke asked Corran Horn on his commlink.

"Yes, Master Skywalker," Corran replied. "Seha Dorvald has successfully attained enough evidence on Faal's killer to have the government warrant an arrest. His trial will commence soon."

"It's good to hear that justice is being meted out," Luke said. "Now what about the whereabouts of the Ten Knights?"

"Still nothing," Corran answered. "The task force that was dispatched managed to trace the Knights' jump-off point from Dromund Kaas to Korriban. But on Korriban, they found nothing there, so they just left."

Luke thought for a moment. "Perhaps we need to stage a more thorough investigation on Korriban. One that may very well require my direct involvement."

"I'll organize a second task force, Master Skywalker," Corran said. "I'll notify you when we're ready so you'll join us."

"Thank you, Master Horn," Luke said. "That will be all." He then signed off. No sooner did that happen than when he got another beep. He answered it. "Master Skywalker here."

"Master Skywalker, this is Jedi Thul," Raynar's voice came over scratchy due to the static of the comm. "As we speak, Jedis Veila and Lowbacca are departing with me from Bakura with the terrorists we apprehended. But something that you should know, Master, is that their leader turned out to be Prince Xizor."

"Xizor?" Luke asked in shock. "How is that possible?"

Prince Xizor was the Falleen Prince and crime lord and Vigo of the criminal syndicate known as the Black Sun. Almost five decades earlier, he had helped Emperor Palpatine fund the construction of the second Death Star, and he was a considerable threat on his own merits to the Rebel Alliance. In fact, he was personally having Luke hunted down while also trying to seduce Leia during the time that they were trying to save a carbonite-encased Han from Boba Fett. Xizor apparently died when his personal skyhook over Coruscant–then known as Imperial Center–was destroyed by Darth Vader's forces with Xizor in that skyhook.

Luke thought that the news of Xizor's return was only just a rumor reported by Jaden Korr around the time that the Grand Master had been exiled from Coruscant by Daala's regime. Luke was only aware of Jaden's report passively, and he didn't lend it much thought or credence since then.

"We don't know, Master Skywalker," Tahiri's voice reported. "But during our confrontation with him, he suddenly dissolved into some blue fluid."

"He dissolved into some blue fluid?" Luke echoed in disbelief.

"Yes," Tahiri affirmed. "We've collected a sample of the fluid for Master Cilghal and Jedi Tekli to examine."

"Good thinking," Luke said. "Do you have anything else to report?"

"No, that's about it," Raynar replied.

"Very well. Skywalker out." He cut the link.


	4. Chapter 4

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 4

Two weeks after Raynar, Tahiri, and Lowbacca returned from their mission to Bakura, they now gathered in the Jedi Temple's medical ward with Grand Master Skywalker, Master Cilghal, and Jedi Tekli. The latter two Jedi were standing in front of the other four with a beaker of the blue liquid sample that Raynar, Tahiri, and Lowbacca had brought back.

"After we examined this sample, we've drawn the only solid conclusion that we can make of this Prince Xizor's biological structure," Cilghal announced. She then looked to the Jedi Knights before her. "I'll be brief and get to the point with what you need to know: The Xizor you confronted was a clone, whose DNA proteins suffered a rare mutation caused by cloning. This resulted in the physiological breakdown you watched him perish from."

"Can you determine where he was cloned from, or have you already deduced that from the research that you and Jedi Tekli have commenced, Master Cilghal?" Luke asked.

"We have," Cilghal replied. "This clone was birthed from a Spaarti cylinder."

"Well, I guess we're going to have to find out who's still using Spaarti cylinders," Raynar commented. He then turned to Luke. "Where do you recommend we start, Master Skywalker?"

"I recommend that you go to the most obvious sources first, like Arkania and Kamino," Luke replied. "After that, it's up to you. We got nothing from any of our interrogations with the terrorists you brought back. I'm surprised that they all actually believed they were working for the real Xizor." He then looked at Tahiri and Lowbacca. "I'm sending you with Jedi Thul on this mission, Jedis Veila and Lowbacca."

Both Jedi nodded their assent.

Luke's commlink then beeped. He answered it. "Go ahead."

"Master Skywalker, you'd better get down here to the Jedi hangar as soon as possible," Corran Horn's voice responded.

"I'm on my way," Luke replied before cutting off the link. "Business is concluded. Carry on with your duties." With that, he left, with Raynar, Tahiri, and Lowbacca following him out to begin their next mission.

A few minutes later, Luke met Corran at the strut of a landed StealthX. "What is it that you wanted to see me about, Master Horn?"

At that, a familiar-looking man stepped from behind the hidden view of the strut to face Luke. He was bearded, but Luke recognized the face as belonging to Jaden Korr. He was about to ask the man about where the Ten Knights have been in the last few weeks since their last stop at Dromund Kaas, but then when he looked into the Force, he found that this wasn't Jaden.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

"My name is Soldier," the man said. "I am a clone of Jedi Knight Jaden Korr." He then turned back to look behind the strut. "Sweetie." A little girl then stepped around to take place at Soldier's side. "This is Grace. We've come to join the Jedi Order."

"A clone, you say?" Luke asked. "Where did you come from?"

"From a station on an unknown icy world in the Unknown Regions," Soldier answered. "We're all that remains of what came there."

"Jedi Korr told me that all of the clones were dead," Luke stated. "He forgot to mention you."

"The others are dead, yes," Soldier replied. "Grace and I are all that are left. Jaden decided to leave us alone back at the Rakatan station."

"You caused quite a bit of chaos on Fhost during your journey over to that station," Luke said with a reprimanding tone.

"That wasn't my fault," Soldier said. "That was because of another clone who couldn't control himself. Suffice it to say, I don't miss him in the slightest."

"And what about the scientists back at the station where you and the other clones came about?" Luke asked.

"We did what we had to do to free ourselves," Soldier said.

"A view like that is not one espoused by the Jedi, Soldier," Luke said. "If you are to become one of us, you must come to understand that what may seem necessary can lead you to the dark side of the Force."

"I've come to understand that a long time ago, Master Skywalker," Soldier said in a humble tone. "I'm willing to seek the path to redemption. I feel that I'm ready to become a Jedi."

Luke nodded. "And what about Grace?"

"Grace has agreed, too," Soldier said for the little girl.

Luke then just stared at Soldier and Grace for a moment.

"Master Skywalker?" Soldier asked.

Corran waved him silent.

Several seconds later, Luke said, "Very well. I sensed that your intentions are genuine. You and Grace will be installed as Jedi apprentices immediately."

~o~

"WHERE IS VESTARA KHAI?" Darth Wyyrlok shouted from the top of his lungs to the assembly of Sith before him.

In the auditorium of the Temple, every Sith there quaked in fear at the anger that Wyyrlok was radiating through the Force. As his power was backed by his telepathic communication with the leader of the One Sith, Darth Krayt, everyone in that auditorium feared that Wyyrlok may very well be able to kill them all with a simple thought.

Just a couple weeks ago, the One Sith decided to hide themselves from the Jedi task force who came to investigate the whereabouts of the Ten Knights. The Sith had already cleared the wreckage that was the dead bodies and the StealthX debris that littered their Temple's landing pad beforehand, then they cloaked themselves in the Force so that the task force couldn't find them at all. They pulled off the exact same thing about a year earlier when Luke Skywalker, his son Ben, Jaina Solo, and Vestara Khai–who was still part of the Lost Tribe at that point–were searching for Abeloth.

After that, they didn't think they had to worry about anything else. But then they were all taken by surprise when they felt that another Jedi task force came about much later, and with Grand Master Skywalker among them. Apparently, he wasn't fooled. That was when all of the One Sith had to travel underground and quickly but successfully cover their tracks while doing so. They then waited out the Jedi search until they left the Korriban system entirely.

But while the Sith had been in hiding underground, Vestara Khai had disappeared. And now Wyyrlok wondered where she was.

"You!" he pointed to a random cowering Sith in the crowd. "Have you seen where Lady Khai went?"

"No, my lord," the Sith replied in a wavering tone. "I had not been near Lady Khai during our time underground."

The next thing that Sith knew, she was enveloped in a tangle of Force lightning from Wyyrlok's fingers. Her pure, blasting agony only lasted for a few eternal seconds before the end of her screams signalled the end of her life. This inspired even more fear from the Sith crowd.

"Then who has been next to Lady Khai during our evacuation underground?" Wyyrlok asked.

No one answered. Everyone looked worriedly around the hall and at one another, seeing who could answer Wyyrlok's question and put an end to the terror that he was placing upon them.

After a few moments, he let out a primal scream that preceded his attack on the auditorium's ceiling with his Force lightning. This elicited screams of fear from everyone in the Sith crowd who was still alive.

When Wyyrlok finally calmed down, at least on the surface, he announced, "Very well. I shall send out a covert force to search the entire galaxy for Lady Khai." He then selected the members of the team. When he was done, he continued. "You are to take Ship and bring Khai back alive. And with the child she carries intact no less. Any less, and all of you die. Understood?"

The selected members nodded their heads in obedience, though the fear for their lives showed in an unsubtle way.

"Excellent. Off with you then. Someone clean up Qaza." He pointed to the Sith he killed. "This congregation is now over." All of the remaining Sith departed, with one Sith who was pushed by his colleagues to collect Qaza's body for Wyyrlok.

~o~

Sitting in the prison cafeteria of Ossus's Jedi Temple, Dubloch Velk and Waut Chauck were eating their dull, plain meals in peace by themselves when they were joined by Derely Dith, who had a tray of his own gruel, and who sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"What do you want, Derely?" Waut asked.

"Guys, I'm thinking that maybe we should become part of the Jedi Order," Derely answered.

Both Dubloch and Waut looked up from their meals in shock at Derely. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Waut retorted.

"Well, it's either that, or it's this," Derely replied as he waved his arms about the cafeteria after setting his tray down.

"I settle for this," Waut replied as he returned to eating his food.

"Me, too," Dubloch said, joining Waut in the same act. "And besides, the Jedi would sense that you'd only wanna join them because you don't wanna be in their prison anymore. They won't accept you, and you'll still be here in this exact same situation, Derely. Hell, if anything, your time here will only be extended for trying to deceive them like that."

"And let's not forget about Vestara," Waut pointed out. "After her, I doubt they'd accept anymore Sith applicants. Especially since she even seduced the Grand Master's son while deciding to become a Jedi apprentice."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good point," Derely admitted in a defeated tone. "But we can't just sit here and live out the next several years here, if not the rest of our lives. We gotta do something!"

"If we do, the Jedi will kill us, Derely, and you know that," Dubloch said. "If we pull off any kinda shit like that, they won't risk us again. They'll just..." He trailed off to signal a chopping motion at his neck with an associating cutting sound effect via his mouth.

"Yeah, normally, I'd agree with you, Derely, but again, Dubloch is right," Waut said. "If it weren't for him, we'd probably have ended up as a bunch of mangled body parts back on Coruscant during the final battle against the Jedi."

"Oh, c'mon, guys, look at what we've been reduced to!" Derely pointed out. "You really wanna continue living like this?"

"No, but if we took any initiative, we're fucked," Dubloch said simply.

"And why are you the one complaining about this, Derely?" Waut asked. "If anything, I should be the one doing that. Since when did you become the one who said we gotta be fightin' the Jedi?"

"Since when did you become the spineless pussy, Waut?" Derely retorted.

Waut nearly jumped out of his seat so vault the table, tackle Derely, and beat him into submission. But Dubloch held him back with an arm. "No, no, no, Waut, it ain't worth it. It ain't worth it."

"Ah, you're right again," Waut said. "You're always right."

"Of course I am," Dubloch said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But you know, Dubloch, I gotta ask," Waut said.

"What?"

"What happened to the guy who got violent on Vestara Khai?" Waut asked.

"Hey, that rhymes," Derely pointed out simply.

"Derely, shut the fuck up."

"Well," Dubloch began, "after Ahri Raas and the others died in the hands of the Jedi, I decided, 'Ah, kriff it.' You know what I mean?" Waut and Derely nodded.

"Hey, what is this business that I hear that you're planning to 'take some initiative?'" A human male Jedi had stopped by at the former Sith trio's table to ask them that question. "You three idiots planning on busting out or starting a riot or something?"

"Surprisingly, we're not," Waut said in a nonchalant tone. He then nodded his head at Derely. "It was just this particular idiot's suggestion since he's too much of a pathetic wimp to continue staying in here."

"Oh, fuck you, Waut, you fat son of a bitch," Derely growled.

"Derely, we're in the presence of a Jedi in the prison cafeteria of his Order's Temple," Waut said. "Keep in mind that you're outta your element, and you won't survive in here if you keep that attitude up."

"Is that a threat I hear?" the Jedi asked.

"What's your name, Jedi?" Waut asked, ignoring the Jedi's question.

"You answer my question first, Sith," the Jedi replied contemptuously.

"It's former. _Former_. Why does everyone keep forgetting that?"

"Answer my question," the Jedi said sternly.

"Oh, right. And that was?" Waut asked.

The Jedi took a calming breath. "Were you just threatening the life of your fellow prisoner?"

"No, I was simply pointing out the fact that if he were to continue that kind of bad-mouthing at people like me, he will die," Waut said. "Now what's your name, Jedi?"

"Valin Horn."

"Okay, Valin. You have anything else to say?"

"Yes. Do you mind informing me how what you said to your fellow prisoner would not be misconstrued as a threat?"

"Yes, I do mind," Waut said. This prompted an eye-rolling look of irritation from Dubloch beside him.

"Waut, just answer his question," Dubloch said in an annoyed tone.

"I suggest you do what he says, Waut," Horn said.

"All righty then, Valin, but I'm gonna have to stand up to make my point, unless you mind," Waut said as he stood up. Horn backed off, his hand ready on his lightsaber in case Waut started something. He could have just ordered Waut to sit back down, but it was clear from the way the former Sith said those last three words that he merely said them in a rhetorical stance. "What I told my friend was a simple declarative fact of his circumstances in this facility. This would be a threat." He then turned back to Derely and leaned over the table at him.

"Goddamnit, Waut, don't do this," Dubloch said in a weary tone.

Waut waved him off, then spoke to his other friend. "Derely, if you ever say fuck you to me, or call me a fat son of a bitch, again, I will tear open your non-flabby chest and rip out every single intestinal organ until I have enough room to cover up this whole cafeteria by every square inch." He then turned back to Valin. "_That_ is a threat."

"That's it," Horn said. "You're coming with me to solitary confinement."

Waut sighed in defeat. "Shit," he muttered before he was taken away by Horn.

~o~

Vestara woke up in a medical ward. She didn't know what it belonged to, but from the subtle vibrations she felt in the bed she was on, she felt that she was aboard some kind of starship. Seeing that there were no binds or any other kind of restraints on her, she pushed herself out of bed and onto her feet.

Then she felt sick.

Holding her gorge, she looked around for the nearest refresher. She instantly found it off to the side of the ward, so she rushed over there without hesitation, hurried for the open toilet, and allowed herself to vomit into it.

Once she was done, she felt through the Force that her baby was satisfied that it got rid of the excess nourishment she provided for it.

_You're welcome_, she thought sarcastically to her own developing child. She then pushed herself away from the now-vomited-filled toilet and returned to the medical ward.

There, standing at the door of the ward, she found one of the few people she never thought she would ever see in her life ever again.

Ahri Raas.

"No, it can't be," she whispered in disbelief. "Ahri? How could you be here? I saw you die back in Sinkhole Station!"

"Something like death wouldn't keep me away from you, Vestara," Ahri said with an affectionate smile as he approached her. "At least not for long anyway."

"How is it that you're alive?" Vestara asked once he was close enough to kiss her.

"I'm not, sadly," he said with a tone that mirrored what he stated. "What you see is my ghost. I've come to help you from beyond the grave, Ves."

"But that can't happen to Sith," Vestara argued. "Only Jedi can do that."

"That's what you think," Ahri countered. "But once I was dead, I met many strange people. One of them helped me achieve the ability to talk to you like I do now. She has been very helpful and very useful to me."

"What's her name?"

"Vergere."

"Vergere?" Vestara asked as she stepped back from Ahri. She then researched her memories of what she learned from the Jedi Order. The name Vergere rang in her thoughts.

Then it came to Vestara. From what she learned during her time as a Jedi apprentice, Vergere was said to have been the one to have set Ben's late cousin, Jacen Solo, down the path of the dark side during the war against the alien invaders known as the Yuuzhan Vong.

_Hmm... I wonder_, Vestara thought. "Why would Vergere help you come back to me, Ahri?" Vestara asked.

"Because, Ves, I wanna see you happy," he said. "You know how I feel about you, right?"

"Yes, Ahri, I know," she said with a nod that betrayed the awkwardness she felt in talking about something like this. "But there's already someone else..."

"Hey, I can't exactly be with you now anyway, right?" he pointed out with a note of humor. Vestara gave a weak chuckle at that before Ahri continued in a more serious light. "No, Ves, I said I wanted to make you happy, not to make you mine at any rate. And that means getting you back with Ben."

Vestara raised an eyebrow. "You don't hold it against him for cutting you in half more than a year ago?"

Ahri shook his head. "Nor do I hold it against him for earning your heart when I couldn't. The thing is, Ves, the two of you were meant for each other, even if you are on the opposite spectrums of the Force. I saw that in the afterlife because Vergere showed me. And Vergere did this not only for me, but also for Ben's cousin."

"Jacen Solo."

"Yes. In spite of all that Jacen became as Darth Caedus, he still feels like he owes it to his cousin to at least partially make it up somehow for all he did in the Second Civil War."

"What does that mean?"

Ahri's smile became wider. "You'll see." And with that, he disappeared.

A few moments later, Vestara left the medical ward and headed for the starship's cockpit.

There, she found Han Solo in the pilot's seat of the _Millennium Falcon_ as it travelled through hyperspace. He turned in his chair to face Vestara.

"We are on our way to Dagobah, Lady Khai," he said, absent his usual wry personality. He sounded like an abject servant to the Sith. "You will be with Ben Skywalker once again."


	5. Chapter 5

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 5

Much earlier on Hapes...

The Hapan ball that had been thrown in Queen Mother Tenel Ka's name was a disaster, and not in the figurative sense; it was a real human tragedy.

Han and Leia were chatting idly with Tenel Ka about passive, frivolous matters that they could afford to talk about now that the galaxy was at peace when the skylight above the ballroom erupted in a fiery ball of flame. While everyone else scattered about in fear and panic, Han, Leia, and Tenel Ka simply rushed out of the way of the falling glass and whipped out their weapons; Han with his classic blaster, Leia and Tenel Ka with their lightsabers, igniting them instantly.

After the fire at the skylight dulled down into a pall of smoke, the pale-skinned assassin, Aurra Sing, dropped down through the brown air with a red-bladed lightsaber in each hand. Han tried to shoot Sing down while she was still descending, but as it could be expected, she blocked off the shots and ricocheted them back to their source. Han, of course, managed to duck out of the way of the returning shots while Leia leapt up to engage Sing in a duel.

The two women met halfway to the ground in a clash of violet and red blades. Upon landing, Leia managed to get past Sing's defences and loose a kick to her gut that sent her flying back. But Sing managed to quickly recover from the blow through a simple roll back across her shoulders, then she came up to her full height. She then rushed towards Leia, who was already headed for Sing with Tenel Ka at her side.

When Leia and Tenel Ka began trading blows on their blades against Sing, Han aimed his blaster–set for kill–so that he wouldn't worry about hitting either of the Jedi women. But he was soon tackled from behind to the ground by a Hapan security guard.

"No, you could hit the Queen Mother!" the guard exclaimed as Han noticed that other guards–led by the Zel sisters and Zekk–were rushing in to do something about the situation.

"Tenel Ka, we must get you to safety!" Taryn exclaimed while her cousin was still duelling Sing with Leia at her side.

At that, Tenel Ka managed to cut down one of Sing's blades, which left her duelling her and Leia with the only remaining blade.

"You were saying?" Zekk whispered in Taryn's ear.

As the duel progressed, however, Sing managed to simultaneously parry away a double blow from both Leia and Tenel Ka and smack the former up the jaw with her free elbow. While Leia collapsed to the ground, that left Tenel Ka alone in duelling Sing, and within a few seconds, the Queen Mother also fell to the floor screaming as her pale-skinned opponent cut off her remaining arm.

If Taryn had any snark reply about Zekk's earlier comment, she didn't voice it as she and the others opened fire on Sing. While the latter was blocking off the shots and backing away to give the guards less range, Zekk ignited his lightsaber and soared through the air to attack Sing in his own way. The guards knew to stop firing before Zekk dropped into their line of sight, and he began clashing blades with Sing.

While Zekk was duelling Sing now, a few of the guards rushed to their writhing Queen Mother's side and carried her off the nearest medcenter. Meanwhile, since the firing from the guards stopped, Leia, who had been downed since she took that blow from Sing, used her advantage and leapt to her feet to join Zekk in further combatting the pale-skinned assassin.

Han, who had also gotten up since the Hapan guard tackled him, aimed his blaster to try and shoot Sing again. Of course, he was thwarted again by Taryn when she lowered his arm again. She gave him a look that said, _With Zekk there? I don't think so_.

It seemed as if this duel was meant to refute Zekk and Taryn's claims interchangeably, for the duel turned to Sing's advantage again as she rolled off to the male Jedi's side, came up in a crouch, blocked off a parry from him, got past his defences, and then stabbed him through the torso.

"NO!" Taryn screamed. Then, forgetting the advice she just gave to Han, she lifted up her own blaster and fired at Sing.

The assassin rolled back from the incoming bolts, and at the same time, Leia leapt over them to come down at her opponent with a similar stab to the gut. But when that time came for her, Sing was already on her back and she successfully blocked off Leia's attack. A split second after that block, Sing managed to interlock the blades and yank them off to Taryn and Han's side. The next few bolts from Taryn's blaster came back at him and Han, but they managed to roll out of the way.

After Leia collapsed on her, Sing head-butted the Jedi and then shoved her off of her. She then swung her remaining blade down at Leia, but the latter rolled out of the way of the attack and came up to her feet just as Sing did, still blocking off bolts that not only came from Taryn's blaster now, but also from Han, now that he was sure his wife wouldn't get in the way for the next few seconds. Of course, when she did lock blades with Sing again, Leia managed to accommodate Han and Taryn's aims, along with the aims of the other guards who remained in the ballroom, as she duelled the assassin at convenient angles that suited her and her gun-toting allies.

After another ten seconds, Sing did something Han never thought she could ever do to him.

She used one of the bolts he fired at her and redirected it right into Leia's forehead. The singe burn there indicated that Leia was dead before she even hit the ground a few seconds later.

Han didn't even bother screaming in rage like Taryn did. He only shot more ferociously, his shots still being blocked off along with the other guards', until his blaster pack emptied. Then he watched in helplessness as Sing slaughtered the guards by redirecting their shots right back into their temples. Not even Trista or Taryn survived.

It was only Han and Sing now.

She deactivated her lightsaber and approached him. His enraged mind not thinking straight, he rushed her, but she knelt him in the groin and brought him down to his knees easily.

"Now you shall carry on the Mission," she whispered in his ear.

A few seconds later, the Hapan guards who carried off Tenel Ka rushed back in, but they found no sign of Han–only Sing's dead body lying on her back, dead, amidst all of the others she killed in that ballroom.

No one knew that the _Millennium Falcon_ had lifted off without notice by the Hapan authorities, for it was the Will of the Mission.

~o~

Over his portable comm, Ben spoke to his father. "Dad, did you feel..."

"I did, Ben," Luke said calmly, though his voice lacked his usual serene now that he felt that his sister died. "Return to the solitude of your exile."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I said return to the solitude of your exile, Ben."

Not arguing any further, Ben shut off the comm.

~o~

Now...

The _Falcon_ set down on Dagobah, and once the loading ramp was down, Vestara wasted no time as she rushed down and looked around the dark, gloomy wasteland that was the planet's natural landscape.

"Ben!" she called out. "Ben, where are you? Ben, it's me, Vestara!"

She didn't know where Ben was until she felt the thud of an impact on the ground behind her. She whirled around to find her lover there, and he didn't look happy this time.

"How'd you steal the _Falcon_?" Ben asked contemptuously.

"I didn't steal it, Ben," Vestara replied.

"Yeah, right. Like Uncle Han and Aunt Leia would give you a ride here just to see me, especially after you nearly killed their granddaughter."

"Well, I don't know about Leia," Vestara said, "but your Uncle Han actually flew me all the way out here."

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "What are you talking about? I know my aunt is dead, but–"

"It is the Will of the Mission that you two be with each other," Han said at the top of the ramp behind Ben.

Ben turned around and looked up at his uncle. "Uncle Han, what's going on? Why did you bring Vestara here?"

Suddenly, Han blinked and shook his head before grabbing it with one hand. He looked down at his nephew. "Ben, what am I doing here? The last thing I remember..." He trailed off when he suddenly saw Vestara. "You!" He reached down for his pistol from its holster, but stopped when he felt, and saw, that it wasn't there.

In the next instant, the _Millennium Falcon_ went up in flames in a giant explosion that sent Ben and Vestara flying back and landing on their backs.

When they stood up, Ben looked at the inflamed ship, and his expression was mired in horror when the realization sunk in that his Uncle Han was dead. He swung around and activated his lightsaber, raising the tip up to Vestara.

"You did this!" he growled.

"No, Ben, I swear, I didn't!" she exclaimed as she hurriedly backed away from the lightsaber as Ben walked up to drive it through her head.

"She really didn't do it this time, Ben," a disturbingly familiar voice said off to the side.

Ben stopped, and looked off to the direction of the voice.

The sneering form of Jacen Solo's ghost stood there.

Ben deactivated his lightsaber and hung it to his belt. "Start from the beginning, Jacen. Specifically, why and what you're doing here."

"Oh, why should I ruin what you two have going for each other?" Jacen retorted. "My explanation would only complicate things. And don't you think you've had enough complications with Vestara already, Ben?"

"What's it to you?" Ben asked.

Jacen didn't answer. He simply disappeared.

Ben turned back to Vestara. "That your dead cousin?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, downtrodden. "I think you already know he's the reason I don't even consider becoming a Sith."

"I'm aware of that," Vestara replied. "But I must say, I do owe him a debt of gratitude."

Ben looked back at his lover with confusion.

"You would've killed me had he not stopped you."

Ben raised an eyebrow and snorted. "Wouldn't you want me to go to the dark side?"

"Not if I'm not with you," Vestara said.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Please," he said, annoyed.

"Well, if not for me, then for your child at least," Vestara said.

Ben's eyes widened at that. He completely forgot; if it weren't for Jacen, he would have not only killed Vestara, he would have also killed his own child. And his offspring was innocent of all the crimes Vestara committed.

Ben came back to himself. "How did the _Falcon_ blow up?"

"I don't know," Vestara said.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you, Ben."

"You always lie to me."

"Not this time."

"Like I haven't heard that before."

"Well, what would it take to get it through your head that I didn't betray you this time?"

"Start by not having to betray me in the first place."

Vestara stared back at her lover in confusion.

"Exactly," Ben said. "Whatever trust I had in you Vestara, it's gone now. Now tell me. How did you–"

"You heard your cousin, it wasn't me!" Vestara exclaimed.

"I don't consider my cousin to be anything close to a trustworthy source!" Ben screamed.

Then the atmosphere around the swamp they stood in darkened with the residue of the dark side. The flames from the _Falcon_ only grew larger because of it.

But then Ben stopped himself, and the flames from the _Falcon_'s wreckage began dying down again. He looked back at Vestara with less anger, but more scrutiny. "You want this, don't you? This is what you did that–" he pointed over to the _Falcon_ "–for. To turn me to the dark side."

"You didn't seem to try and stop yourself a few moments ago," Vestara commented. "And yes, I do want you to turn to the dark side, you know that. But I really don't know what happened to the _Falcon_. Your uncle probably rigged it to blow or something."

Ben stared back at his lover with incredulity. "Now why would he do that?"

"Probably for the same reason he brought me over here," Vestara said.

"Do tell, what is that reason?"

"Aside from the fact that 'we're supposed to be together?'"

"Aside from that."

"He didn't seem like himself," Vestara said. "I think you noticed that, didn't you, before he died?"

"I noticed that. What did you do to him to make him blow up his own ship and kill himself?"

"Again, I didn't do anything."

Ben groaned in annoyance at what he believed to be Vestara's lies.

"But I'm sure Jacen knows."

"Well, Jacen's not here right now, so I've only got you to rely on for information."

"Very well then. I'll tell you what I know." Then she told him what the spirit of Ahri Raas told her.

"I'm supposed to believe that my uncle's mind was possessed by the spirit of either my dead cousin or your dead boyfriend, or both, for that matter?" Ben asked sarcastically.

"Ahri was never my boyfriend, Ben," Vestara said.

"Whatever. Look, you got into my hut–" he pointed behind her–"and stay there while I contact the Jedi Order and let them know you're here. That way, you can go back to the Temple prison and I continue my exile here in peace, as it's supposed to be."

"You really think I'm just gonna lay back and allow you to have the Jedi come and take me, Ben?"

"You really think I'm giving you a choice in this matter, Vestara?"

Vestara snorted. "Fine, I'll let you have it your way... just like I let you have it your way back when you were bringing me over to Denon... like it was supposed to be." She then turned and went to the hut while Ben turned away from his lover and took out his comm.

But when he tried to activate it, all he got was static. He hit the device a couple of times before he came to the realization that it wasn't working for some reason. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he returned to his hut.

"So how long should we expect a task force to come for me?" Vestara asked as she sat in the cramped space of what was once Master Yoda's hut.

"Soon as I speak to my dad, I'll let you know," he said as he opened up his comm to find out what was wrong with it in its innards.

"What, it's not working?"

"Apparently not. And now that I'm looking at it, I don't know why. It should be working as well as usual, given that it doesn't look broken."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Ben," Vestara replied wryly.

He didn't look away from the comm's innards. "Yeah, at this point, I think I know that by now."

Vestara looked back at Ben impatiently before he looked back into the comm. "Maybe it's Jacen using the Force to block off communications with you."

Ben looked back at her. "You know, that might actually be a logical explanation, for once."

"Really?"

Ben's expression changed to wordlessly ask Vestara, _You still lying then?_

Vestara shook her head. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean it by?"

"Well, I was simply asking... You know, why do I always have to explain myself?"

"Is that an actual question or a retort?"

Vestara didn't answer. Instead, she asked, "May I go to sleep then?"

"Be my guest," he said, pointing to the second bed in the hut.

"Sure you don't wanna... you know, before we actually go to sleep?"

"My aunt and uncle are both dead, Vestara, and my dad is grieving for them right now as we speak, even as he is leading the Jedi Order in finding out wherever you took the Dagger of Mortis," Ben said. "If you wanna do me any good tonight, why don't you tell me where you brought it then?"

"If I did tell you, how could you even communicate that info when your commlink isn't even working now?"

"I'll tell the Jedi after I return to the Order in the next few months if I have to," Ben said. "So, you wanna elucidate me on the Dagger's whereabouts now?"

"Does it really look like I wanna do that?"

"Does it really look like I care what you want right now?"

"What I want is sleep right now, whether or not you join me, and I know you'll allow me that for our baby," Vestara said. She turned to crawl over to that bed before Ben grabbed her by the wrist and stopped her from going on any further.

"Know this, Vestara: Whether or not you tell me, the Jedi will find the Dagger, and we will destroy the last of the Sith, one way or the other," Ben said.

"So why'd you ask me where it was?"

Ben shrugged. "Just to make things easier."

"Not with a comm that doesn't work. And I somehow doubt you'll manage to wipe out _all_ the Sith, in either case." With that, Ben allowed her to break his grasp, and she turned back to the bed Ben pointed her over to.


	6. Chapter 6

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 6

Boba Fett and his family were welcomed back with a large crowd of armored Mandalorians gathered in front of the Fett family homestead. The _Slave I_ settled down in front of the crowd, and a few moments later, they disembarked.

Normally, if this were any other gathering, this crowd would have been cheering, applauding, and throwing flowers and confetti in the air in celebration of their leader's return. Instead, these were Mandalorians. Their collective militant posture in the face of their comfortable silence was louder than any kind of applause that could have been offered to Fett. And it was a relief for him and his family that they weren't treated as celebrities with flashing cameras or anything like that headed their way.

However, halfway to their home, Fett, Mirta, and Jenga suddenly collapsed to the ground. Ghes and a few other Mandalorians-such as Goran Beviin and Medrit Vasur-rushed to the downed Mandos' sides as they moaned and groaned in pain. Before anyone could ask anyone what was wrong with them, Fett and his female relatives silently melted away into puddles of black fluid. Their clothes and armor were taken with them.

The silence among the Mandalorians continued as they simply observed the pooled fluid that had once been Fett, Mirta, and Jenga. It was only broken when Ghes screamed from the top of his lungs, "NO!"

When he was done, he looked at Goran and Medrit, pointing at the former in contempt. "You!" He then advanced on his fellow Mandalorian. "You did this!"

"What are you talking about?" Medrit asked as he protected his lover by standing before Goran's would-be assailant.

Ghes then unsheathed his vibroblade from up the sleeve of his right wrist and slashed at a weak spot in the neck of Medrit's armor. The latter blocked off the attack with one arm and then kicked Ghes in his armored torso. The newly-widowed Mando then flew back from the attack and rolled back across the ground, but upon returning to his feet, he launched for another attack against the homosexual Mando couple.

Joining Medrit, Goran stood beside him and prepared to meet Ghes in hard contact. The latter Mando leaped for them, but his opponents quickly spread out and countered him to the ground by the crooks of his arms. Goran and Medrit then moved back away before Ghes hauled himself up to his feet, then looked both ways to his now-spread-out targets, wondering which one he should go after first.

"That wasn't our fault, Orade!" Goran exclaimed. "Medrit and I swore that we cleared out Mandalore's atmosphere of the deadly nanobots! We were _sure_ that it was safe for your family to return!"

Not listening to reason, Ghes turned to Goran and charged after him. Medrit chased after the enraged Mandalorian while Goran ducked beneath Ghes's slash to his vulnerable throat, following up by tackling Ghes to the ground. He then wrestled Orade and eventually got his helmet off before punching him unconscious with his Mando gauntlet.

Medrit then helped his lover up to his feet, and then they looked about the still-present Mando crowd around them.

"Orade's right!" someone in the crowd called out. "You said that the atmosphere was safe for Fett to return!"

"It was!" Goran defended.

"Then how can you explain that?" that same Mando asked.

"Well, that's what Medrit and I intend to find out," Goran said, "after we get a sample of that fluid."

"And how do we know you won't fail in your attempt to find out what it is?" someone else called out. "After all, you failed to determine that Mandalore's atmosphere was still poisoned-"

"We don't know that yet!" Medrit cut off. "Once we get a sample of that fluid, we'll see if we failed to determine the safety of Boba Fett and his family's return."

At that, no one said anything else. The crowd allowed Goran to collect a sample of the fluid on the ground with a tool he took out of his utility belt while Medrit tied down the unconscious Ghes so that he wouldn't be a threat to either him or his lover for the time being. Then Medrit, with the knocked-out Ghes slung around his shoulders, followed Goran back to their homestead about a klick away.

~o~

Sailing through Dagobah's atmosphere in the Skipray Blastboat that the Wild Knights loaned him for the errand of bringing in new rations and water canteens for Ben Skywalker, Seff Hellin was shocked to find the destroyed hulk of the _Millennium Falcon_ laying nearby the hut that Ben took refuge in. Forgetting about his mission for the moment, he settled the Skipray down next to the _Falcon_ and barely remembered to shut the ship's engines off before he quickly disembarked to rush over to the wrecked YT-1300.

From the position he took-several meters away from the lowered landing ramp-Seff allowed himself to take in the horrifying image of the now-dead _Falcon_ in simple observance. From here, he could see the charred corpse of Han Solo lying on the deck at the top of the ramp.

He swiveled around and rushed over to Ben's hut. "Jedi Skywalker! Jedi Skywalker! Are you there?"

Before Seff was a few meters from the door, Ben crawled out of the hut and looked up at the older Jedi Knight from his prone position. "Jedi Hellin! What're you doing here?"

Seff stopped in his tracks in the relief of seeing that the son of the Jedi Order's Grand Master was okay, at least. He took a moment to compose himself before he answered, "I came to deliver you your weekly supply rations. But that can wait." Seff then turned back and waved to the _Millennium Falcon_. "What happened there."

"Apparently, from what I've been told, Jedi Hellin," Ben began as he pushed himself up to his feet, "Han Solo's mind was taken over by the spirit of Vestara Khai's dead boyfriend, who was working for the spirit of my dead cousin Jacen, to fly Vestara over here so that we could get back together before he blew up his own ship and killed himself."

Seff was silent as he stared in incredulity at Ben. "A-are you joking right now, Jedi Skywalker? Because right now is no time for jokes."

"He isn't joking," Vestara Khai said as she crawled out of the hut and joined Ben. She then turned to him. "And I told you, Ahri was _not_ my boyfriend." Ben rolled his eyes at this.

When Vestara was done speaking, Seff whipped out and ignited his lightsaber, pointing its blade at the Sith girl. "What's she doing here?" he asked Ben.

"Believe it or not, the major reason that Han Solo was brainwashed by Vestara Khai's dead boyfriend-" Vestara ribbed him for that, but Ben continued. "-was because he was to bring her here to reunite with me."

"Oh, really?" Seff asked sarcastically, clearly not believing in the story. "Then tell me: Why's that?"

Vestara shrugged her shoulders in genuine ignorance.

Seff looked back at Ben. "Do you actually believe her, Jedi Skywalker? Because I don't think I have to tell you where that leads you when it comes to Vestara Khai."

"I'm fairly aware of that, Jedi Hellin," Ben replied. "And for the record, I was hesitant in trusting her at first. Hell, I still have trouble trusting her even after the spirit of Jacen Solo told me that she was telling me the truth, since we all know how much of a reliable source of truth he was in his final year of life. Still, it did lend some credibility to Vestara's story. At any rate, though, I'm not putting her in harm's way, since she bears my child."

"That doesn't sound like an excuse not to have her tied up, at least, even if it wasn't some kind of dark side trick on her part," Seff countered. "And how long have you had her in your hut, Jedi Skywalker?"

"For the past few nights or so," Ben answered.

"Why didn't you inform anyone in the Jedi Order about this over on your comm beforehand?" Seff asked.

"I tried comming my dad, the other Masters, and whoever else I had in my contacts, but my comm wasn't working," Ben said. "And I don't know why. Looking into it, I didn't find anything wrong with it."

"Really? Can you give it to me?" Seff asked.

Ben took his comm out of his utility belt and tossed it over to Seff, who caught it with his free hand. Taking his eyes away from the teenaged couple, he then deactivated his lightsaber and held the comm in both hands. He then opened it up, and indeed, he found nothing particularly odd in the device's innards. He closed it up, activated it to communicate with Luke Skywalker, but all that came back was static.

"Huh, that's weird," he said. Seff looked back up to Ben. "Well, let's see how my comm does then." He then tossed Ben back his commlink and took out his own. Upon activating it, static was all that returned. Just like Ben's comm, he checked his own device's innards, but there was nothing unusual there. "How's this possible?" he asked no one in particular, still observing his non-functioning comm.

Before Ben could open his mouth to inform Seff of Vestara's theory regarding that it may have been Jacen's spirit somehow blocking off the communication, all three of them felt the arrival of two powerful Force presences in the Dagobah system. They all looked up to the sky, where they felt the presences manifest themselves into the system. All three of them could feel that the new arrivals were both Sith.

Ben and Seff looked back down to Vestara, who looked at the two Jedi males in nervousness.

"I suppose they came for you?" Seff asked.

"Most likely," Vestara replied in her still-nervous tone.

"You sent them over here," Seff accused. "You're the reason that Ben can't communicate with the rest of the Jedi Order!" He then advanced on her with his lightsaber activated and pointing at her again.

"No, wait, I didn't do it!" Vestara said, backing away from the blade until her back hit the hut's exterior behind her. Normally, she could have just defended herself with her lightsaber. But ever since she lost her last one, and wasn't given a new one upon her return to Korriban (what with her being responsible for the premature reveal of the One Sith to the Jedi Order).

"Yeah, right," he said before he stopped before her. He then looked over to Ben. "I'm sorry, Ben, but she's too much of a threat to the Jedi, even with your kid." With that, he looked back to the Sith girl, lifted his weapon, and moved to slash her dead.

But his blade was stopped from killing her by the block of Ben's ignited blade.

Seff looked over in shock into the eyes of his fellow Jedi Knight, and was slightly horrified to find the grim determination in Ben's eyes-determination to protect his lover at all costs.

Ben then shoved Seff back. "Don't touch her," the younger Knight intoned.

Seff stood frozen in place, his look of shock just as locked onto his face. It took him a moment to come up with something to say. "Listen, Ben, I know what she means to you, but you have to understand-"

"No, Hellin, what _you_ have to understand is that there are two Sith who are coming over to retrieve Vestara," Ben said. "I'm not gonna let that happen. So you wanna help me defeat those Sith and take Vestara back to the Jedi Order as a prisoner? That way, you don't have to kill her, and my child can be born?"

"She's too much of a risk, Ben!" Seff said. "We have to kill her now! She could help out those incoming Sith! And there's no way _I'm_ gonna let that happen!"

"How about this?" Ben asked. Then he knocked Vestara unconscious with the swing of his arm to her temple. He looked back to Seff casually. "I'll tie her up now. Satisfied?"

"For the time being, at least we won't have to worry about turning on each other," Seff said as Ben gathered the unconscious Vestara up in his arms and moved to return to his hut. He said nothing more after that.

Ben gave Seff one last look of contempt before dropping prone to the ground, Vestara still in his arms, and opening the door to the short hut.

~o~

A green-skinned male Twi'lek and a cream-furred female Bothan, both members of the One Sith, disembarked from the StealthX fighters that had been repaired from Ship's attack upon the Ten Knights back on Korriban. Looking around the gloomy environment of Dagobah, the Twi'lek, whose name was Bre'den, and the Bothan, whose name was Dar'fla, looked at each other and nodded. They then set out into the bleak, near-dead jungle of Dagobah for Vestara Khai.

Both Sith were aware that at least one Jedi was here on this world, and that it just so happened to be Ben Skywalker, son of the Jedi Order's Grand Master, Luke Skywalker. Bre'den and Dar'fla knew that they had to be careful on this world, so it wasn't hard for them, given their training as part of the One Sith, to cloak their presences with their powers. In spite of the fact of their partnership, they would compete against each other to be the one to take the life of the Grand Jedi Master's son for the sake of glory, and to perhaps earn the favor of Lord Darth Krayt himself.

Half an hour into the search, it seemed as if the honor of at least combating Ben Skywalker was fulfilled for Bre'den when the young Jedi dropped from the heights of the tall trees above with his lightsaber active. The two of them were locked in a duel as soon as their blades first clashed.

Dar'fla then moved to assist her fellow Sith in killing Skywalker-if not kill him after either or both were through with him so that she could claim sole victory over the Jedi-but she was forced to quickly swivel around as soon as she heard the _snap-hiss!_ of an igniting lightsaber behind her. She parried away the first strike of the Jedi in front of her, and now she was engaged in a duel with him.

~o~

When Vestara woke up, she found herself lying prone on the floor of Ben's hut, with her hands tied behind her back and her ankles strapped together. Almost instantly she began to struggle, and after a full minute, she managed to wriggle her hands free. She then rolled herself onto her back, pulled her legs in, and untied the strap around her legs. Vestara then crawled to the exit of the hut and opened the door. She soon heard the clashing of lightsabers somewhere nearby, so she knew that Ben and Hellin were fighting the Sith who came to return her to the One Sith.

Vestara then pulled herself out of the hut, pushed herself up to her feet, and turned to the direction where she heard the lightsabers clash. And, indeed, she could see four dark forms, two pairs fighting each other-with one pair having red, blazing blades, and the other having one blue and one green blade for the opposite pair-locked in combat.

"So, Vestara," a familiar voice said behind her. She swiveled around and found Jacen Solo's ghost stare back at her with something of an arrogant grin. "What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean what am I going to do now?" Vestara replied. "I must return to the One Sith. It's my duty!"

"And what about your fellow Sith here?" Solo asked.

"Who cares about them?" she said. "I'll just take Hellin's ship and blast all four of them into oblivion."

"Oh, I have no doubt you could be that callous to your former, and even less doubt that you would do that to Seff Hellin," Solo said. "But what about Ben?"

Vestara hesitated at that. "What about him?"

Solo smirked. "As if you could brush him off like that. Vestara Khai, I know you. At this point, you couldn't kill Ben even if you were directly ordered to by Darth Krayt himself. What makes you believe that you could commit that through your own initiative?"

"I'm a Sith first, and a lover second," Vestara said. "I'll do what I have to to survive, even if that means killing the father of my child. He's already served his purpose of giving me his seed anyway."

Solo lightly chuckled. "If you believe in that, Hellin's ship is right over there." He then waved to the Skipray Blastboat before disappearing.

~o~

Seff thought he was getting the upper hand in his duel with the Bothan Sith before he noticed the Skipray he took to this planet come soaring in, lasers raining down upon him and his opponent. He jumped off to the side to avoid the hail of fire, then he used his Force power to shove the Bothan, who was also jumping out of the way in the same direction, back under the pouring lasers. She was blown to pieces from just one of the large bolts that impacted against her body.

The Blastboat-which was no doubt piloted by a now-awake and free Vestara Khai (Seff knew keeping her alive was a bad idea, after all)-completed a full turnaround upon passing by Seff, and came soaring back in with more lasers directed at him. He then turned and began running away, counting on his danger sense to tell him when and where incoming bolts were coming in for him so that he could duck or jump over those bolts. Eventually, his run ended when Ben's body crashed into him, and the both of them went tumbling across the ground, their lightsabers already deactivated so they wouldn't hurt or kill each other in the roll.

The bolts from the Skipray-at that point, Seff knew it had to be Khai; she wouldn't hurt Ben-ceased firing as it flew overhead. But neither Jedi were out of the woods yet (figuratively speaking) as the Twi'lek Sith leaped in to kill them both with his crimson blade. Ben and Seff instantly rolled out of the way in opposite directions so that the Twi'lek's lightsaber only cut a blazing furrow in the ground, then he flipped back to Ben. But before he was even halfway to the young Jedi Knight, his entire body was instantly vaporized from a red laser bolt that hit him in the side.

The Blastboat soared by overhead again before doing another turnaround and firing bolts in Seff's direction again. He leaped to his feet and began running again while Ben leaped up to the lowest branch of a nearby tree, and then used the rest of his stamina to land upon the surface of the Skipray. He then deactivated his lightsaber and placed the blade end of the pommel flat against the ship's surface. When the blade activated again, the Skipray's shielding didn't throw Ben off the top of the vessel, and he began cutting a rough circular entrance.

Once he was done and the section of the ship he cut up fell in, he followed suit. But instead of finding Vestara at the controls as expected, she flew down from the ceiling and kicked Ben in the face with her boot. After he collapsed on his back, Vestara used the Force to rob Ben of his lightsaber and then throw it over to the vessel's control panel, which was having the ship on autopilot. Almost instantly the Skipray began to veer down to the ground, and Vestara had already jumped through the hole that Ben had cut for himself.

Soaring through the air now, Vestara clasped both her hands onto a thin but sturdy branch, then performed an acrobatic flip towards a thicker branch nearby. During her brief flight, she managed to catch a quick glimpse of a pair of StealthXs in the distance. Upon landing in a graceful crouch on that next branch, however, she turned back and watched as the Blastboat crashed onto the ground, still chasing Seff Hellin as it cut a swath across the ground. The Jedi Knight jumped on top of a large boulder that was now in front of him, then leaped up and back as the Blastboat's forward hull crashed into the boulder.

Upon landing, Seff met Ben, who had already retrieved his lightsaber from the Blastboat's destroyed control console and cut a good hole in the vessel's rear before leaping out of it to join his fellow Jedi.

A few seconds later, the Skipray exploded, sending both Jedi flying back from the impact wave.

With that, Vestara turned and began leaping Dagobah's trees over to the StealthXs.

~o~

After Ben and Seff pushed themselves up to their feet, their lightsabers now deactivated, the latter looked to the former and said snidely, "Yeah, keeping her alive was a really good idea."

"Hey, I tied her up, okay?"

"Well, given what just happened," Seff said, waving to the burning hulk of the Skipray Blastboat, "I wouldn't say that's okay."

"Look, I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm letting you kill her as long as she carries my child, you got that?" Ben countered.

"Somehow, I doubt you'd let me kill her even if she weren't carrying your child, Jedi Skywalker," Seff replied.

"You think I didn't try to stop her?"

"That's exactly what I think, yes," Seff said.

"Well, then, you got me pegged wrong, Jedi Hellin," Ben said. "I'm as bound to and dutiful to the Jedi Order as much as anyone else. So don't think for a second that I would allow a Sith, even Vestara for that matter, to ever get away!"

"That so, huh?" Seff said skeptically. "Well, if you were so bound and dutiful to the Jedi Order, you would have allowed me to kill her."

"As if I would allow you to kill someone, even an enemy combatant, in cold blood," Ben said. "That, in itself, is pretty Sith of you, Hellin. You sure Abeloth isn't still convincing you up there-" he pointed to Seff's head "-that I'm an imposter who would allow you to do anything like that?"

At that, Seff inhaled and exhaled forcefully in a visible attempt to control himself from decking Ben. "Look, we need to stop arguing. I'm sure those Sith came in on more than one craft, and your little Sith girlfriend, if we let her get away again-" Ben's nostrils flared at that, but he didn't interrupt. "-is going to take one of them and most likely destroy the other one to strand us here. So we have to at least subdue her if I'm to even report her whereabouts to the Order. C'mon." With that, he turned around and began trotting along, but his danger sense instantly tingled. He swiveled around and activated his lightsaber quickly, but it was too late.

The butt end of a loose, truncated log smacked him flat in the face, and Seff blacked out upon impact.

"I'm not going to let you kill Vestara, Hellin," Ben said as he looked down upon the unconscious form of his fellow Jedi Knight, releasing his hold of the loose log he used to knock out Seff. "So even if I have to tie you up, I won't let your blade even singe her flesh." He bent down to pick Hellin up, noting his bloodied nose and mouth, when he suddenly felt the Jedi's Force presence disappear from the Force.

Ben then stood back up, his eyes not looking away from Seff's body, as he realized that he was dead.

~o~

Landing in front of the pair of StealthXs that Bre'den and Dar'fla took to get to Dagobah, Vestara prepared to board one of them when she suddenly felt a Force presence nearby wink out. She recognized it as Seff Hellin's presence, and she knew that he died. She looked back in the direction where she felt the Jedi's death and wondered what could have killed him.

Vestara got her answer when she felt Ben's emotional pain in the Force; his guilt at having killed a fellow Jedi.

Jacen Solo's spirit then manifested in front of her. "What are you going to do, Vestara?" he asked.

And at that moment, she knew what she had to do.

~o~

Several minutes later, Vestara found Ben pressed up against a wall in the short hut, hugging his legs as he stared with a traumatized look on his face at the opposite wall. He didn't notice Vestara's presence until she said, "Ben?"

He looked at her, but his expression didn't change. He then resumed his activity of looking back at the wall.

"Ben, what happened?" Vestara asked in genuine concern as she crawled up to him. "Talk to me? What happened?"

"I killed him, Ves," Ben said with an empty tone. He then looked at her, and his expression deepened. "I killed Seff Hellin. For you. Because I didn't want him to hurt you. I didn't want him to kill you. And it's not just for the baby. It's for you." Tears began streaming his eyes. "In spite of everything you've done, in spite of all the lies you told, and in spite of who you are as a Sith, I love you. You understand that? I. Love. You." He then began to slowly approach Vestara. "And I couldn't bear to lose you or the baby. And you made me turn my back on the Jedi as a result. And you know what? I would do it all over again. Just for you." And with that, he kissed her.

After an intense moment, Vestara pulled back. "Ben," she said. "As much as I want to turn you to the dark side, I feel your pain. I know that what you did was an accident. And you're too damn stubborn to truly turn your back on the Jedi anyway. But _you_ know what? I love you, too. In spite of your foolish ideals, your naivete, and your overall nature as a Jedi, I can't resist you. And resisting you would be like trying to turn you to the dark side anyway. So why don't we put all that behind us for tonight, okay?"

"Okay," he said with a knowing smile.

They then shared another kiss, and began to move away to the nearest bedroom to undress for the night's intercourse.

~o~

In his grief over Han and Leia's deaths, Luke had no interest in continuing his duties as Grand Master of the Jedi Order. But, alas, regardless of his feelings, he had to continue anyway.

He commed Corran Horn. "Master Horn."

"Yes, Master Skywalker?" Corran replied.

"Why hasn't Seff Hellin reported back in from Dagobah already?" Luke asked.

"I tried to comm him about that, Master Skywalker," Corran answered. "But I received no answer."

"Very well," Luke said. "Do you think it's necessary to send someone to Dagobah to investigate his whereabouts?"

"If you think it's necessary, Master Skywalker," Corran said.

"I think it is necessary, Master Horn," Luke said. "I'm thinking we should send Jedi Yaqeel Saav'etu on this mission, don't you?"

"A reasonable choice, sir," Corran said. "I'll inform her immediately."

"See that you do. Master Skywalker out."

~o~

"So how was solitary confinement?" Derely asked Waut as soon as he joined him and Dubloch at their table for lunch.

"Shut the fuck up, Derely," Waut said casually.

"Well, good to see that the old you is still there," Derely replied snidely.

Waut growled.

Derely mocked his growl. "Yourself," he concluded.

"Oh, real fucking nice comeback," Waut said.

"Hey, you didn't gimme much to work with, so what do you expect from me?"

"You know what I expect from you, Derely," Waut said dryly.

"To shut the fuck up?"

"To shut the fuck up," Waut confirmed.

"Of course," Derely nodded before getting back to eating his gruel.

"So what'd I miss, Dub?" Waut asked.

"Oh, nothing much, Waut," Dubloch replied. "Just a couple of our own decided to switch over to the other team."

"What? You mean some of our guys went and became Jedi?" Waut asked in shock.

"You bet your fat ass they did," Derely interjected.

Looking at Derely in anger before turning back to Dubloch, Waut asked, "Which ones?"

"Jeza and Markib," Dubloch answered.

"Well, I'd expect that from Jeza," Waut said. "But Markib? How the fuck did that happen?"

"Well, maybe it's because he and Jeza saw that being in here wasn't such a good idea after all, so they figured it'd be better to serve as slaves than live as prisoners, in a sense," Dubloch said.

"You see, I told you it was a good idea, Waut," Derely said.

"Mark my words, Derely," Waut said with a finger pointed to him, "those jackasses won't last a week. Eventually, they'll break, and the Jedi'll figure out that they're as Sith as the rest of us. Then, if they don't die from being killed by any of the Jedi once their treachery comes out, their asses'll be thrown back in here. You just wait and see."

"If you say so, Waut," Derely said dryly.

"You're damn right I say so, Derely," Waut said. He then turned back to Dubloch. "Am I wrong about this, Dub? Am I wrong?"

Before Dubloch could answer, all three of them looked and found Jeza, now dressed in Jedi robes, walking up to them. "Hey, guys, how're you doing as prisoners here? Havin' a good time or what?"

"Good fuck yourself, Jeza," Waut said.

"Oh, now, Waut, I heard you just got out of solitary confinement for threatening to decorate this prison with Derely's organs over here," Jeza said. "You wouldn't wanna go back now for inappropriate behavior to a Jedi, now do ya?"

"First of all, it was intestines," Waut clarified. "Second, I wouldn't give you much respect given that I know molested little boys back on Kesh." At Jeza's shocked face, Waut continued with, "That's right. I know about that. And third, that fucktard of a Jedi twisted my words to his liking so he'd have a good excuse to throw my ass into solitary confinement. I said that decorating this prison with Derely's intestines would be threatening him, because I gave it as an example. I didn't actually threaten Derely's life in any way, shape, or form."

"Yes, you did, it was implied, a blind man could see that you were threatening me," Derely said.

"Derely, shut the fuck up," Waut said.

"Oh, I'd heed that advice if I were you, Waut," Jeza said. "After all, in here, you wouldn't wanna do that in here."

"Well, I don't know about that, Jeza," Dubloch said. "Given that this Jedi prison isn't so bad, that's, like, uh, your opinion, man."

"Still, it would be advisable for Waut not to fuck with the Jedi, and not to fuck with the Jeza," Jeza said. "Otherwise, I'll stick a blaster so far up your ass and shoot until the blaster pack empties."

All three of them at the table were silent. "Jesus," Dubloch said.

"Well, actually, it's Jeza," Jeza corrected, "and you would know that, Dubloch. But like I said, nobody fucks with the Jeza." And with that, he left.

"Eight year-olds, Dub," Waut said to Dubloch.


	7. Chapter 7

The Wrap-Up: Chapter 7

Trapped in Goran and Medrit's cellar, Ghes struggled vainly in the bonds that Goran tied him up in. He struggled for nearly two hours before the cellar door above and ahead of him opened up. Goran stood there, looking down at him.

"If I free you from your bounds, Orade," Goran said, "do you promise not to try and kill Medrit and I?"

"How 'bout you come over here and find out yourself?" Ghes demanded.

Goran sighed visibly. "Look, Medrit and I found out the cause of what killed your family. It had nothing to do with the nanoprobes, which, by the way, Medrit and I confirmed were destroyed when we started investigating what led to their demise."

"So what killed my family then?" Ghes asked.

"It's some kind of airborne bacteria (natural bacteria, with no electronic attachments, I'll remind you) that kills any cloned organisms, as well as any organisms who have descended from the clones," Goran answered.

"Like Mirta and Jenga," Ghes concluded.

"Bingo," Goran replied.

Ghes looked away for a moment, and to Goran, he looked as if he might calm down and not try and kill him and Medrit. When Orade looked back up to the homosexual Mandalorian, he asked, "Is there any way you and Medrit can counter this thing, for the remaining Fett clones in the galaxy at least?"

"I doubt it, even if we could find a cure to it anyway," Goran said. "But this bacteria has the potential to kill all non-cloned life in the galaxy, if it undergoes a certain mutation."

"What kind of mutation?" Ghes asked.

"You have any elementary knowledge of biology?" Goran asked.

Ghes thought it over before he spoke, then he opened his mouth and said, "No."

"Thought so," Goran said. "The point is, if we don't stop this, all of the galaxy's citizens will die off within a year."

"Oh!" Ghes said with mild shock. "Oh, this is bad, isn't it?"

"You bet your _shebs_ this is bad, Orade," Goran said. "Fortunately, opportunity to stop this spread of spacefaring bacteria has knocked, as our undercover agent in the Jedi Order has shared info that's relevant to the research Medrit and I put forth."

"Which is?" Ghes asked as Goran approached him and released him from his bonds.

"A few weeks ago, a few Jedi Knights were tracking down some kind of terrorist group, which turned out to be led by a clone of Black Sun's late crime lord, Prince Xizor," Goran explained. "Xizor's clone melted into a puddle of goo, just as your family did, and the Jedi then collected a sample and brought it back to their Temple for their scientists to look it over."

"Did they find the cause of this bacteria?" Ghes asked as he followed Goran out of the basement, where they joined Medrit at the open exit of the homestead.

"As of now, they have, yes," Goran nodded as the three of them exited the homestead and approached Goran and Medrit's YT-1300, which lacked any coarse designs that Han Solo's _Millennium Falcon_ displayed. "Apparently, this bacteria has residue of the dark Force power of this evil entity that the Jedi fought and killed almost a year ago. Her name was Abeloth, I believe."

"Abeloth? I've heard of her," Ghes stated as Medrit manually lowered their YT's landing ramp, and then waved the other two Mandos aboard. "My grandfather-in-law told me about her. He and Tahiri Veila fought and killed her back in Moff Getelles's secret base on Hagamoor 3 while the Jedi were duking it out with the Sith on Coruscant."

"I see," Goran said in digestion of the facts that Ghes gave him. "Well, that should help us solve this thing."

Goran then waved Ghes over into a seat in the passenger cabin while he and Medrit continued to the cockpit to start up the ship and head off into space.

~o~

When Yaqeel Saav'etu jumped her StealthX out of hyperspace in the Dagobah system, the next few minutes of simply traveling to the planet that the system was named after were uneventful. But things took an unexpected turn instantly when, upon approaching the outer folds of the world's atmosphere, Yaqeel felt a dark presence in the Force reveal itself just as she saw the form of another StealthX, outlined by the background of Dagobah's moon, approaching her cloaked starfighter.

The opposing StealthX began firing upon her instantly, but Yaqeel didn't hesitate to maneuver her vessel out of the way and head the opposite way of Dagobah's atmosphere; fighting as her ship could potentially burn up upon entry before her opponent's lasers could do that job wasn't a good idea.

With the nose of her StealthX pointing the opposite direction of Dagobah now, Yaqeel banked her vessel hard to port to complete a 180 degree turn to face the opposite StealthX, dodging a few incoming lasers along the way. Once she was facing her opponent, however, she was forced to dive and then come up in a loop, firing a number of lasers as she went. Her opponent, who appeared to be a more experienced and capable pilot, easily dodged those shots, firing more of his own as he went along.

Yaqeel wasn't as experienced or capable of a pilot as, say, Jaina Solo Fel, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, or any number legendary pilots and military commanders who were deemed heroes for their actions in the number of galactic wars that plagued the last few decades. So, of course, her StealthX took quite a few hits that sent her spiraling off course.

But suddenly, her opponent began to veer his/her ship around wildly for no apparent reason, from what Yaqeel could see in between the images that her StealthX's tumble brought her. Once she was finally able to correct this, she righted her starfighter and swung back around to watch as the opposing StealthX stopped flying and allowed itself to get caught in Dagobah's gravitational pole. Yaqeel watched as the ship, out of control, was soon engulfed by the atmosphere of the planet, burning it up to molecules upon entry.

Curious, but otherwise relieved that she managed to survive this brief dogfight, Yaqeel warily yet also confidently approached Dagobah, slowing her starfighter enough for a proper entry through the atmosphere.

~o~

"Has Korr reported in from Dagobah yet?" Wyyrlok asked Dician in the communications ward of Korriban's Sith Temple.

Dician, at one of the main consoles, turned from her station and told Wyyrlok, "I'm sorry, Lord Wyyrlok, but I have received no transmissions from Jaden Korr."

"This is unacceptable," Wyyrlok said in a restrained tone. "Do you think he might have been killed by Jedi, Dician?"

Dician shrugged. "It's not my place to judge, Lord Wyyrlok."

"Never mind," Wyyrlok replied, waving Dician's remark away. "If Korr is dead, then we've already lost three members of the One Sith at and/or on Dagobah. Therefore, I believe that whatever is there bears special judging for the One Sith, even if it won't bring Vestara Khai back to us. Which is why I believe that this will require my own personal touch."

"Lord Wyyrlok?" Dician asked.

"Announce for a twenty-vessel-size squadron to accompany me, Dician," Wyyrlok elucidated. "I will see what lurks at Dagobah."

~o~

Ben and Vestara woke up from the previous night's activities and smiled at each other, contented and satisfied with what had transpired between them.

But the moment was ruined when they felt another Force presence enter Dagobah's atmosphere. Scrabbling for their clothes and putting them on, they left the hut, Ben allowing Vestara to go out first, so that they would meet up with whoever had arrived now.

A single StealthX landed next to the destroyed _Millennium Falcon_, and out came the pilot, Yaqeel Saav'etu. She didn't look happy seeing Ben and Vestara together.

"Jedi Skywalker!" Yaqeel exclaimed, apparently missing the sight of the wrecked _Falcon_ as she leaped out of the cockpit and approached the teenaged couple. "How could you be with her? She nearly had Allana killed, and she had my friend, Bazel Warv, die defending Allana! She's an irredeemable Sith who deserves to _die_ for these crimes! How could you?" She growled a predatory snarl at Vestara then.

"You seem to forget that Vestara bears my child, Jedi Saav'etu," Ben replied. "I'm not going to allow her to die in such an ironically Sith-like way."

"So you're just going to let her be with you like this, and not have her take any punishment for what she's done?" Yaqeel exclaimed. "I'm certainly not going to allow for _that_!"

"And what exactly are you going to do about it then?" Ben asked contemptuously, not-so-subtly reaching for his lightsaber in a defensive gesture.

Yaqeel stared back in shock. "You'd kill me for _her_?" she asked, pointing to the Sith.

"I certainly did it with Seff Hellin," Ben said calmly.

Yaqeel's shocked expression somehow grew more shocked. "You killed him?"

"It was an accident, but one I don't regret," Ben said, his level of calm not wavering. "Like I said, I don't intend to have anyone threaten Vestara or our child."

"Well, in that case, it seems that if I can't do it myself," Yaqeel said, "then I'll just have to take it up with your father, the Grand Master. I'd like to see what kind of punishment he'll give you for this." With that, she turned around and trotted back over to her StealthX.

Yaqeel then swung back around when she heard the _snap-hiss!_ of a lightsaber, almost simultaneously igniting her own. She felt like she should have been shocked to see Ben Skywalker with his lightsaber ignited before her, but she had a thought that Vestara Khai was somehow influencing him into doing this.

And given the near-subtle smile that Khai was given her right now, Yaqeel's doubt was instantly erased.

"Normally, I'd allow you to go, Jedi Saav'etu," Ben said. "I honestly wouldn't care what my dad what dish out on me at this point. For I am no longer a Jedi."

"Jedi Skywalker," Yaqeel said in a somewhat diplomatic tone, "you don't know what you're doing. Now just deactivate your lightsaber and think this through. She's manipulating you." Yaqeel indicated Khai with the blade of her lightsaber.

"No, she's not," Ben objected.

"Ben, I know what she means to you, but-"

"No, you don't," Ben interrupted. "And I know damn well that Vestara isn't manipulating me because I decided to informally drop out of the Jedi Order after I killed Seff all on my own... without Vestara manipulating me. Because I know if she tried to manipulate me. Either way, though, I'm not going to allow you to go back to the Jedi and inform my dad about something that will get Vestara captured or worse."

"Jedi Skywalker, I'm going to give you this one last chance-"

"Save it," Ben replied. "Let's just get this over with." Then he charged with a battle cry.

Yaqeel met him head-on with the usual calm of a Jedi in contrast to the Sith-like rage currently being displayed by Ben. But since Ben was the more experienced Jedi-or ex-Jedi, as he claimed-he was easily besting Yaqeel in the initial moments of the lightsaber duel. He backed her up to one of Dagobah's large trees behind her, but when her back hit the bark, she instantly rolled off to the side, Ben slashing a giant furrow through the large tree. He then whirled to his opponent's direction when she, while crouching, threw her lightsaber at him. But he deflected the blade off to the side before leaping at the Bothan. The latter, however, used the Force to push him back while he was still in midair. As Ben crashed to the ground, Yaqeel used the Force to recall her lightsaber to her hand before leaping up to her feet just as Ben did.

They charged each other again and upon the clash of their lightsabers, Ben parried Yaqeel's blade out of the way, kicked her in the shin, and as she collapsed on that leg, Ben disengaged from her lightsaber and performed a maneuver that decapitated the Bothan.

The entire duel lasted less than half a minute.

"Good, Ben, good," Vestara said with a cheerful demeanor. "Now you are mine."


	8. Chapter 8

Dubloch Velk and Waut Chauck, who sat on the former's bed of their bunk, were playing a game of dejarik in their cell when Onimi teleported into their cell. They both turned to the ugly and psychotic Yuuzhan Vong.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Dubloch asked.

"Yeah, sorry I decided not to get you back to Earth," Onimi said.

"Why the hell did you leave us here for us to get captured by the Jedi?" Waut asked. "We coulda been killed!"

"Yeah, well... I just didn't feel like it then," Onimi answered.

"So what changed your mind?" Dubloch asked.

"Well, I just remembered that there's gonna be a galaxy-wide apocalypse that will render about ninety percent of the galaxy's population dead," Onimi answered. "So I'm gonna get you and Derely outta here before the contagion that causes that apocalypse kills you, too, as well."

"Well, why not just leave Derely behind?" Waut asked.

"Because I like how you verbally abuse him like that," Onimi said. "It's kinda funny."

With that, he approached the two ex-Sith and teleported himself and the both of them out of there. A moment later, Onimi appeared in Derely's cell and teleported him back to Earth with Dubloch and Waut. There, all four of them found themselves in a rundown apartment. There, Deadpool, Nom Anor, and Jacen Solo sat there eating tacos and watching the TV that Onimi and the three ex-Sith were now sitting in front of.

"Could you please move, you're blocking our view of _Sherlock_," Nom Anor said.

~o~

Seconds later, the entire galaxy suffered an apocalypse as quadrillions of people across innumerable star systems suddenly melted away into goo. Everyone in the Jedi Order died, the entire One Sith died, and even Ben Skywalker and Vestara Khai died, taking their baby with them.

~o~

"Disappointed again?" Onimi said to a wall off to the side of the apartment that he shared with Deadpool and the others. "Well, it's fanfiction, so..." He shrugged. "Fuck it."

"Who are you talking to?" Dubloch asked him.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Deadpool said.


End file.
